


The Former Love of Her Life

by KaterinaRedbird



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M, Flashbacks, Minor Elena Gilbert/Stefan Salvatore, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Past Relationship(s), Salvatore daughter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-12
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-08-22 03:08:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8270339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaterinaRedbird/pseuds/KaterinaRedbird
Summary: Samantha always thought the love of her life died after the civil war. She realizes her mistake when her daughter Mary forces her to visit her hometown Mystic Falls and meets Damon again who has no idea that he has a daughter. As if being back for the first time since she left her old human life behind isn't emotional enough, she has to deal with Damon's hatred for her.





	1. Prologue

_They stood on the edge of a field not far away from their regular meeting place and starred into the night sky._

_"You could think everything is perfect." She whispered. He took a step towards her and hugged her from behind._

_"Right now, everything is." He answered and kissed her neck. She closed her eyes. "Someday this all will be over." He suddenly said fully convinced. She turned around to look at him._

_"Do you really think that?" He nodded and smiled encouragingly._

_"Here is going to be our house." He said pointing to the wide field in front of them. She laughed but tried to imagine how it would be to live with him. "Just us two, away from anyone else." She grinned brightly._

_"With our children." She added, deciding to play along._

_"Three." He said without thinking, she didn't question it._

_"Mary, Elizabeth and Stefan." He looked surprised at her, but went along with it._

_"And one day, I will come home from work and you will just finish helping getting dinner ready and our oldest daughter will come to visit with her husband." They both started laughing. She leaned against him._ _  
"That would be too nice." She whispered._

_"One day." He promised._

 

She sat in the garden and watched her mother who was inside working. She took her phone and made sure one more time that her mom was really busy and then she dialed the number she didn't dial in way too long.

"Hi, it's me." She said softly. The voice on the other side sounded surprised.

"I am sorry, it took me so long to call you again." She listened patiently to her boyfriend's accusations, she deserved that. She didn't expect anything else.

"What was I supposed to do? I couldn't do this to her, I am the only one she has left! She can't let go of the past!" He interrupted her, before her rambling couldn't be stopped anymore.

"Yes, I miss you too.

 **I am going to come up with a solution, I promise**.

I love you."


	2. Chapter 1

Chicago

"Mary, hurry, you have to go to school!" Sam called from outside. Mary came running down the stairs, her black hair flying behind her, and looked at her mother exasperated.

"You know I am a vampire and can hear you without you screaming at me?" Sam ignored her daughter. "Don't you think after all those years, this routine is getting kind of ridiculous?" Mary asked shaking her head when she saw her mom locking the house and buttoning her red sweater. They could replace everything they owned easily and vampires didn't get cold.

"Not really, get into the car." Mary groaned, but did what she had been told reluctantly.

"Aren't you bored? We are doing the same thing for over 100 years now."

"I love what I do!" Sam exclaimed and started the car. "We lived here for only two year, how can you be bored already? You are never going to settle down, if you move every other year." Mary rolled her beautiful ice blue eyes.

"Mom, we are vampires! We don't settle down!"

"Well, certainly not with this attitude missy!" Mary just sighed again and looked straight out of the window. Her mother could be so naïve.

"I don't just mean this city, I mean our whole life. You go to the hospital, I go to school…" Sam didn't even so much as glance at Mary. She knew exactly what Mary was talking about, but she didn't want to admit that she longed for variety too, but just didn't know how to get it.

"You know why we do this. What would you like to change, would you like to start working again? Maybe it's just the school system that bores you."

"No! It's not just the school system! I don't know why we have to hide and always do the same thing!"

"I don't know what you are talking about!" Sam played oblivious. "You know exactly from whom we are hiding." Mary scoffed.

"Not what I meant! Besides, last we heard he was somewhere in Oregon and will probably stay there for a while. We could do whatever we want." Mary's face lit up at that prospect. Sam cringed, when a vampire said they could do whatever they wanted it often ended in death and destruction, even if it was her daughter. Mary could be impulsive sometimes.

"We keep our humanity if we follow human rules. We have to adapt, you know that. We can't attract attention."

"I know, I know." Mary let herself fall back in her seat. "What I really mean." She took a breath and then looked at her mother seriously. "You are lonely!"

"What?" Sam asked surprised. She didn't see that one coming, especially since Mary never seemed to mind having her around. Sure Mary dated a few guys over the years, but it was never anything serious. Apart from the ten years they spent apart, they always had each other and they didn't need anyone else.

"Your last date is how long ago? 100 years?" Mary sounded reproachful.

"I have you! I don't need anyone else!" Sam declared and smiled lovingly at her only daughter.

"But maybe I am not always going to be here…"Mary murmured and Sam put on the breaks so hard that the cars behind her stopped abruptly and honked angrily. The girls stopped in the middle of the street. One by one the other cars drove by and gave them the finger.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" Sam turned around, her green eyes piercing into Mary's blue ones. Mary turned away, she couldn't face her mom.

"No, of course not. It's just… sometimes I feel like you don't even want to move on, you still live in the past."

"That's not true." Sam started the motor again. This talk was over for her, but Mary didn't let it go.

"Really?" She asked disbelievingly. Her mother couldn't go anywhere right now. She couldn't deflect as easily as she otherwise always did. "Then why are you never going on any dates or tell me something from your past for that matter?" Sam took a deep breath. She hated it, when Mary started this conversation. Unconsciously, Sam held the steering wheel tighter. Mary eyed it worriedly – they just got this car and she really loved it – but didn't comment on it.

"What do you want to know?"

"Tell me something about my dad!" Mary said excitedly. Sam winced just like she always did when someone mentioned Mary's father. "See, you can't." Mary backtracked a little; she knew how hard it was for her mom, even though she didn't know why. She had learned early on to live without knowing her father's identity and it was better not to ask. She was curious of course, but she knew it wouldn't change anything anyway. He was dead that much she knew. Mary was just tired of her mom being overprotective because Sam had been hurt a century ago! She got that her mom just wanted to protect her and she really didn't want to hurt her, but she was tired of hiding her own relationship, because her mom couldn't move on. "Because you still live in the past!" Mary continued.

"You want to know something about your dad? This annoying curiosity and stubbornness you have, that's from him!" Sam answered agitated and Mary laughed.

"I want to get to know your hometown. I think it would be the perfect opportunity for you to move on and for me to see where I am came from. It's about time!" It was Sam's turn to laugh out loud. Mary just stared at her perplexed.

"You want to go to Mystic Falls? Seriously?" Sam was still laughing. "You think Chicago is boring, but you want to see Mystic Falls? Sweetie, I don't know what you're expecting, but Mystic Falls has always been a small town. There isn't much to see. It's terrible small! We had a beautiful church, but it burned down. That's it! There is nothing else to see!"

"But it's your hometown!" Mary pouted.

"We would have to fit in even more! Mystic Falls has a history with vampire hunters. We make one mistake and we are dead." Mary just scoffed.

"We always keep a low profile! No one ever expects a thing. Besides, we can handle a few vampire hunters."  
"Since when are you so self-confident?"  
"It comes with the age." Mary replied cockily. "So we are going?"

"You would have to go to school and attend!" Sam fixed Mary with a strict glare. She knew Mary was skipping a lot and compelled herself a perfect attendance. She didn't say anything, because there were worse things she could do and she knew life could be boring sometimes. "I would have to get a new job at the local hospital and it would be a lot harder to steal blood bags since it would be a small hospital. We would have to rent a house. For what? So I can show you the house I grew up in?"

"Yes! That is exactly what I want!" Mary interrupted excitedly. Her whole face lit up at the idea of the upcoming trip. "It would do us both some good."

"I doubt it! Believe me, in Mystic Falls everything ends in disaster!"

"You weren't there for 150 years! Everything could have changed!"  
"Then why do you want to visit?" Sam asked snippily. Mary just smiled knowingly. She took it as a challenge and she loved challenges.

* * *

Mystic Falls

"Damon! You can't go on like this! You can't treat this people here as if there are nothing more than your toys or your food!" Stefan glared at Damon with disgust. Damon had three half naked women on his couch, all of which had two small remarkable marks on their neck. His supposed to be girlfriend, Caroline Forbes, lay in the room next to them.

"But that's exactly what they are, brother. They are here to keep me company as long as I can't get into the tomb." Grinning, Damon went past Stefan to go to Caroline. He took her away from the mess in the living room upstairs to his room. Stefan could only stare after his brother in disbelieve, he down spiraled every day further.

His girlfriend Elena who just learned his secret was entering right at this moment. She turned pale when she saw the girls laying unconsciously on the couch. She looked like she was about to scream, but she could just keep it in.

"Are they…? Are they dead?" Her voice was shaking and she was afraid to breathe.

"No, they are just unconscious. They won't remember anything when they wake up, Damon compelled them." Stefan explained softly and Elena started to breathe again. She held herself together better than Stefan expected. He took her hand and led her to his room. He went back down to clean Damon's mess.

"We have to do something, Stefan! We can't let Damon walk around Mystic Falls compelling people!" Stefan sighed deeply.

"I know, but I have no idea how we could stop him. As long as he can't get into the tomb to save Katherine he will act crazy, but when he does get into the tomb, he will also save 26 other vampires who will do much worse than Damon ever could."

"That sounds like a positive future." Elena stated bitterly. "You know what's ironic?" She looked at Stefan. "Since he is so obsessed with Katherine, you should think that he would take women that look like her - or me -, but they are all blonde!" Stefan tensed, turned to Elena and kissed her. He looked at her as if Elena just offered him the solution to all his problems.

"You are right! That I didn't notice that earlier!" Elena didn't know what got into her boyfriend.

"What?" Stefan looked at her apologetic.

"I explain some other time. I am sorry, I better bring you home. I have to talk to my brother!" Elena still didn't understand, but nodded absentmindedly. She trusted Stefan to do the right thing.

"Okay. Promise me, you will tell me everything."

"I promise." Stefan assured her. "I just have to talk to Damon. Maybe I can stop him from killing the entire town." Elena's eyes expanded.

"How?"

"I don't know exactly, I just have to talk to him first. I have a feeling that all of this isn't really about Katherine." Elena looked more confused than before.

"What else should it be about?"  
"Revenge."

* * *

Elena was safe and sound at home. Stefan hoped he could catch Damon back at home before he could bring another girl home and drain her of her blood. He had luck. Damon sat on the couch and read in an old book with a dark grimace. Stefan stood there awkwardly and watched him. He didn't know how to start.

"What is it?" Damon said annoyed not looking up from his book.

"What did you do to Caroline?" Damon smirked evilly.

"I brought her home and she is still alive. That's what you really asking, isn't it?" Stefan just nodded and still watched his brother eerily. Damon sighed and rolled his eyes. "What else do you want?" Stefan sat down opposite from him.

"What are you reading?" Damon rolled his eyes again.  
"The old Fell diary. He is exactly as entertaining as his wife used to be."

"Well, I wouldn't have expected anything else." Stefan replied. "But why are you reading it?"

"Because I need to find Emily's grimoire. I need her spells to open the tomb."  
"Why do you have to open the tomb?" Damon finally put the book away.

"Now we are getting to the point. To free Katherine, what do you have in mind?" Damon looked daringly to Stefan, but Stefan didn't take the challenge. He knew his brother too well for that.

"I think it isn't about Katherine at all."  
"No?" Damon played dumb.

"No." Stefan stated simply. „There are 26 other revengeful vampires in the tomb who want to destroy this town." Damon opened the book again. He was tired of Stefan's preachment already.

"And?" Damon asked annoyed. He didn't see Stefan's point. He just wanted to read to finally get ahead on his plan.

"You want revenge." Damon laughed out loud, but stopped immediately when he read the next line. He threw the book away and stared Stefan down.

"It's not like this town wouldn't deserve it!" Stefan nodded understandingly. He wouldn't let Damon's anger get to him.  
"I am just wondering why you want revenge." Damon got even angrier.

"They killed 27 people and they called it a war battle!"

"Those were vampire, Damon! But that's not why you want revenge, is it? It's because the people never gave you a chance, isn't it?" Damon stepped back surprised and gasped.

"Where does this come from?" His brows furrowed.

"To be honest, Elena gave me the idea, but don't worry I didn't tell her about you and –" Before Stefan could say anything more, Damon had pinned him to the wall with a strong grip on Stefan's throat.

"Do not mention her name in my house, present or anywhere else again!" Damon gritted. Stefan never saw him that angry.  
"I am right?" Stefan asked catching for breath. "It is about that?" Damon let him go and turned around.

"That's ancient history!"

"Yes, but you still can't hear her name! That's why you want revenge? What exactly did happen? You never told me." Damon just scoffed.  
"We are not going to talk about this today." He picked up the remaining bourbon bottle that survived his earlier binge drinking "This town deserves everything it gets! And when they come for you and Elena, you will beg me to open the tomb!" Damon left the house. Stefan sighed. It was a start. At least he now knew Damon's intention. He picked up the diary and read the last page Damon had opened.

_The boy came with his girlfriend today. They won't last another year, but they seemed as happy as humanely possible._

Stefan closed the diary. He understood why Damon lashed out, but that didn't mean he could allow it. He just wished his brother would talk to him and explain what really happened all those years ago.


	3. Chapter 2

"Did you get somewhere with Damon yesterday?" Elena asked when Stefan picked her up for the founder's party.

"No. I guess I was wrong." Stefan didn't want to tell her what happened. He didn't want to upset Damon further.

"Elena!" Caroline who was accompanied by Damon waved happily at Elena.  
"Ready to see Mystic Falls' past?" Damon asked ironically. Caroline beamed, she seemed genuinely happy, but Stefan knew she was compelled to feel this way. Not that Damon wouldn't know how to charm her without compulsion, but he didn't even put in an effort, what made all of Damon's dramatics even more annoying.

They arrived together at the Lockwood's mansion. It seemed like all of Mystic Falls was present to see the belongings of the founding families or Carol Lockwood just forced them to join. Damon and Caroline had gone straight to the alcohol while Stefan and Elena strolled through the rooms, Stefan telling to each artifact he knew a brief story. Caroline and Damon followed them and listened bored, while Stefan and Elena admired old rings, documents and other remnants from Mystic Falls' history. Damon made it his mission to correct every story Stefan told, but Elena listened to both variations with pleasure. She found it incredible interesting. When they came to the original invitation list for the first founder's party, Elena stopped in awe. Damon and Stefan stepped uncomfortably in front of the paper. Other people shouldn't see what was written on it and see those people alive and well.

"Wow, look at all those familiar names. George Lockwood, Honoria Fell, Thomas Fell, Tobias Forbes, Jonathan Gilbert, Lucia Gilbert, Samantha Gilbert." Stefan watched Damon's reaction to the last name closely, but Damon didn't even so much as twitch. "Guiseppe Salvatore, Stefan Salvatore, Damon Salvatore." She continued to read.

"You were at the first founder's ball?" Elena whispered, even though no one listened into their conversation. "How was it?"

"Not different from today. A total waste of time." Damon replied bitterly. Stefan looked surprised at him.  
"I remember you always having a lot of fun at these parties."

"I can always find a way to entertain myself, but that doesn't change the fact that the party sucked." Damon answered and glared at Stefan. They moved along until Caroline stopped.  
"OMG! Look at these pictures! Those are all the Miss Mystic Falls' winner from all the years! Elena look at it! Our picture could be up here soon!" Caroline studied the picture intently. Elena rolled her eyes.

"I bet it's going to be you, Caroline." Elena assured not saying that Caroline was the only one this obsessed about it.

"It wouldn't surprise me." Stefan added. "Damon always had a foible for the Miss Mystic." Stefan looked at Damon whose face was an unreadable mask since they entered the picture section.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Elena asked her boyfriend confused, but it was Damon who answered her.  
"It means I always liked beautiful women." He kissed Caroline and looked pointedly at Stefan, who couldn't contain his smile. He was getting to Damon.

"Look that was the first winner ever." Caroline pointed to the picture right in the front. "She looks so young."  
"She was. I thing at this time she was 14." Stefan explained.  
"15!" Damon cut in. Everyone except Stefan turned to him in surprise.  
"You knew her?" Elena gasped stunned.  
"Mystic Falls is a small town, everyone knows everyone." He looked at the picture more closely and gulped. "I am going to get us refills." Damon disappeared, fled really.

"Yes, we knew her." Stefan jumped in. "She was a nice girl, but she moved." Stefan only said.  
"She was beautiful." Elena stated.  
„Obviously! She won the competition twice." Caroline pointed to the picture beside it. It showed the same girl, slightly older. "Samantha Gilbert." She read the name below the frame. "Of course she was a Gilbert." Caroline scoffed.

"She won twice?" Elena repeated, ignoring Caroline's jealously. "Wow! Did that happen after her again?" Elena couldn't help but be impressed. She might not care about these things anymore, but she had once dreamed about being Miss Mystic when her mom was still alive. It seemed like an eternity ago, but she could still admire other people's accomplishments.

"No, I don't think so. If she would have participated like her father wanted her to, she would have won again. Mystic Falls loved her." Stefan watched the picture closely. He already forgot that she even participated at all. It was so long ago.

Damon returned with their beverages, when he saw where the other still stood, he didn't look happy.  
"You are still standing here? You realize they have over a 100 pictures here? It's going to take forever if you don't hurry up!" Elena didn't listen to Damon's bickering.  
"I wish they would have had better pictures. You can't see anything on these! Do you remember how she looked like?" Damon looked pained. Stefan watched him with pity.  
"I don't remember how she looked like in these pictures, I was too young. Damon?" Stefan knew it was mean and Damon would probably call him out on it, but he wanted Damon to finally open up. Damon was about to say something hateful, when Elena looked pleadingly at him.  
"Please, Damon. What did she look like? Anything like me? I mean she was my ancestor."  
"Nothing like you!" Damon proclaimed and Elena looked almost hurt. He sighed. "What exactly do you want to know?"

"Everything! What color had her dress? Her eyes? Her hair? Was she excited? She must have been, she participated again! Who was her dance partner?"

_"Tomorrow is the founder's ball already and I still don't know what dress I am going to wear!" She whined. "I don't understand why father makes me go again! I didn't even like it the first time! I hate these events!" A blonde strand of hair fell in her face. He gently put it back where it belonged. He cupped her face lovingly and just watched her carefully._

_"Without these events" He mirrored her distasteful tone and smiled. "we would have never met."  
"That's not true! We would have met eventually!"_

_"Besides" He continued as if she hadn't interrupted him. "You are going to be the most beautiful one there no matter what you wear." He calmed her down and then kissed her tenderly. She blushed slightly and laid her head against his shoulder._

_"I am taking the blue one." She suddenly said._

_"Why the blue?" She grinned happily.  
"Because it matches your eyes."_

Damon sighed heavily. "Blonde hair, green eyes. First time red dress with George Lockwood, second time blue dress with me. No, she wasn't excited. Can we move on now?" Everyone looked at him stunned. Even Stefan, who thought Damon would lie, but was extremely surprised when he realized that Damon told the truth and could remember such a detail as the color of her dress even 150 years later. No one said anything else, they realized Damon didn't want to talk about it, even Caroline held back her otherwise never ending need for gossip.

Damon stayed rather quiet for the rest of the day. Stefan decided to talk to him when they were back home. He felt sorry for Damon, a feeling he hadn't felt in a very long time.

"I don't know what happened, but I am sorry. I know how hard it was for you to lose her." Damon didn't answer and rushed straight to the alcohol. When Stefan didn't take the hint, Damon rolled his eyes.  
"Not again! Just let it go! I don't need your pity!"

"Fine! Drown your sorrows in alcohol and pretend you don't have any feelings!"

* * *

"Are you sure, you want to go to Mystic Falls?" Sam looked at her daughter doubtfully.  
"Yes, I am sure! It can't be that bad. Start driving!" Mary demanded annoyed.

"You've never been to Mystic Falls! But if it that's what you want…" Sam started the motor.

After a very long drive filled with loud sing a longs, small fights over the music choice and the occasional silence they finally reached the "Welcome to Mystic Falls since 1856" sign and all kinds of memories flooded Sam's mind.

_"We should really go outside. They are setting the welcome sign up." She stood up slowly._

_"Right, we don't want to miss it." He said ironically and she smiled.  
"It's a big moment for both of our families. My father doesn't speak of anything else anymore." They both walked outside. Most people already gathered around the town line, awaiting the big moment. The founder families uncovered the sign together. In big letters it read Welcome to Mystic Falls. The people began to clap and laugh and hug each other. Our little town was official now._

_"Welcome to Mystic Falls, Miss Gilbert." He turned to her and kissed her hand like a true gentleman that he clearly wasn't. She responded with a formal curtesy._

_"Likewise, Mr. Salvatore."_

"Okay, he we are. It didn't change much in the last 150 years." Sam looked around. Of course some things had changed, instead of the horses and carriages there were modern cars, the houses were higher, but the feeling stayed the same. She felt small again, like a child that went against her father's rules. It made it so hard to suppress the memories.

"You didn't exaggerate. This is a small town." Mary looked around searching for anything interesting. Her face fell. Sam laughed.

"We can still turn around…" Sam already turned the car around, but Mary stopped her immediately.

"No, no! I am serious, I want to get to know your hometown." Sam smiled and stopped the car.

"Then get out and discover the area. Mystic Falls isn't big, you can walk. I am picking you up in two hours and then we can move in. Does that sound good?"  
"Are you serious?" Mary asked shocked. "That's not how I imagined it! I thought you are going to tell me things!"  
"You wanted to come here. I need a little time for myself. It's weird being back." Sam admitted. "You will be fine!" Mary got out of the car and closed the door more violently than she should have.  
"Why can't we discover it together?" Mary almost begged. Sam shook her head.  
"Later, honey."

Sam knew where she had to go. She thought about coming here many times, but she had always been scared. She couldn't forget this town no matter how much she tried. It followed her in her nightmares.

First she drove to her old house. When she arrived, she had to realize that it didn't exist anymore. Mystic Falls seemed to be careless with its history. Sam walked to the ruin that marked the place where her home used to be. Now there were only a few broken walls in the middle of the forest. She walked alongside it, remembering how it was to live there.

_She sat bored in her room. She hadn't seen him in a while. Her father kept her busy all day, because he knew she had a date. Now it was too late to meet him. She knew he was doing it on purpose, because he hated Damon, but she didn't know how to change his opinion. She sighed. She had to stand up to her father soon, she couldn't handle staying away from Damon for much longer. She missed him badly. Suddenly she heard a tap against the window, before someone opened it from the outside. She began to scream, but before she could even get a tone out hands were pressed against her mouth muffling her voice. She bit down on the hand and tumbled back._

_"Ouch!" A familiar voice exclaimed. "It's just me." He said calmly. "Am I interrupting something?" He smirked._

_"Damon! You scared me half to death! She hissed afraid she already made too much noise and someone would come running to her room and find Damon there. "How did you come up here? We are on the second floor!" She tried to look intimidating and annoyed, but she couldn't hide her grin._

_"I climbed the tree." He shrugged it off as if it weren't a big deal. "I thought if I knock on the front door, no one would let me inside." She paced to the window and looked outside. She had no idea how he managed to climb up the tree and in her room without falling to his painful death._

_"You can't just sneak into my room! What if someone sees you?" His face fell._

_"Should I go?"_

_"No!" She almost screamed and he grinned widely at her reaction. He leaned forward and kissed her gently._

_"Good, I wouldn't know how to climb back down." She laughed._  
"For the next time we have to think of something else."  
"The next time?" His eyes sparkled.  
"You can't just climb the tree every time. Maybe I could convince Emily to leave the kitchen door open and let you inside-" He kissed her and therefore cut her off efficiently. When they broke apart, he didn't move away. He held her tight and whispered in her ear:

_"I missed you so much."_

That were exactly the kind of memories that she tried so hard to forget, but could never quite manage. Some tears were threatening to form in her eyes, she swiped them away quickly.

Sam decided to leave the car, she could walk the rest of the way. She could find the way with closed eyes, she disappeared this way more times than she could count.

After seeing her old house no longer existed, it didn't surprise her that the Salvatore house was no more than a few broken walls in a forest as well. Contrary to the Gilbert family the Salvatores didn't have any living relatives left, as far as she knew, so no one could have taken care of the house.

_"Sammy!" Damon descended his horse to greet Sam. "What are you doing here?"_

_"I want to see you of course!" She answered naturally._

_"My father will kill you!" Sam scoffed._

_"I am tired of hiding. The whole town knows of our relationship. It is about high time our parents accept it! What could possible happen when we make it official? It can't get any worse!" She added bitterly. He kissed her._

_"You are right. I don't care what my father thinks!" He took her hand and they strolled together to the stables. "What changed your mind?" he asked her. Sam sighed deeply._

_"The usual, another fight with my father." He hugged her tightly, kissed her gently and didn't let her go anymore.  
"Everything will be alright." He said, but didn't sound convinced himself._

_"What is going on here?! What is she doing here?" Sam and Damon turned around in shock. Both of them hadn't noticed Mr. Salvatore entering the stables. Damon moved in front of her protectively._

_"She can come here as often as she likes to." Damon said calmly, staring his father down. Sam shivered. Mr. Salvatore looked intimidating; he looked like he wanted to kill Sam. He probably could and Sheriff Lockwood wouldn't do anything about it, he was closer to Giuseppe than he was to Sam's dad, especially after Sam humiliated his son in choosing Damon instead of George._

_"As long as I own this property, she will not set foot on these grounds! If I ever see her again, you can visit her on the local cemetery!" Sam couldn't hide her fear, she had no doubt he would make true of his threat. Damon stroked her back soothingly, while he looked hatefully to his father. He got back on his horse and pulled Sam with him. Mr. Salvatore moved to stopped them, but Damon was faster. They rid into the forest. Damon shouting over his shoulder:_

_"You're going to be sorry!"_

This time Sam couldn't stop the tears. It was a mistake coming back. She knew it from the beginning, but nevertheless she let herself be convinced by Mary. She would go back to the car and take Mary back to Chicago. She took a short cut through the forest that lead her to the old cemetery. She didn't want to go in, didn't want to live through yet another painful memory, but she just couldn't stop herself. It took her a while to find the grave she was looking for. Over the years weeds had spread and made the tombstone unreadable, but she knew exactly what it was supposed to say.

_"Your paper, Ma'am." The boy handed Sam the Mystic Falls News. "I don't understand, what you want with this paper. I've never even heard of Mystic Falls." Sam grinned._

_"I have family in this town." She said goodbye and closed the door. Mary sat on the floor and was drawing on a piece of paper. Sat sat next to her and began to read the headline._

**_FIRE IN CHURCH_ **

_And below that_

**_29 people killed_ **

_Sam gasped, she skimmed the article quickly to see if she knew anyone that was killed in the fire. Most of the names didn't ring a bell which was weird, she expected to see at least some familiar names, after all Mystic Falls was small and people rarely moved there. She surely hadn't known all citizens, but most of them, from founders' parties her father forced her to go to or from church. The people that died in the fire must have been people that the war brought to Mystic Falls. Then her eyes fell on a line at the bottom of the page._

_Two more were killed in the occurring panic while they were trying to save as many as possible, the Salvatore brothers died still at the place of accident._

_She read the sentence over and over again, in hope he just read it wrong, but of course she didn't. It couldn't be possible! It just couldn't!_

_She didn't realize she had started to cry until Mary climbed on her lap and put her small arms around her._

_"Mommy, please don't cry." Sam hugged her daughter unable to move. It hurt! It hurt so much! She couldn't breathe!_

_She couldn't!_

**Damon Salvatore**

**1840 – 1864**

It was so unfair! She had lived for over 170 years and he only had the chance to turn 24. They never had gotten a chance to reconcile. She had tried so hard to forget him, but she never managed. Mary was too much like him, so alike that it hurt. She broke down crying next to the grave. It still hurt as much as it did when she read the news for the first time. After all this time, she still couldn't function in this town, knowing what she could have had, but now never would. She hated this town! She couldn't stay here, the memories were killing her.

"I miss you so much." She whispered her voice broken from crying so much. She didn't want to leave him again. She wanted to stay with him, but not even in death she could see him again. She was immortal and she would stay this way for Mary. She couldn't leave her behind. Slowly she got up, her bones feeling heavy and her heart aching.

* * *

After her mom basically threw her out of the car, Mary went into the opposite direction. Her mom obviously didn't want to talk. She took it as a victory that they made it that far. She really was in her mother's hometown! She always imagined how it would be like, but in her dreams it was never this… dull. She had lived all over the world, but Mystic Falls was small by any definition of the word. She couldn't imagine her mom living here, she always preferred big cities, but maybe that was because she was scarred from Mystic Falls.

After Mary walked for a while, she decided that there was nothing interesting to see, at least not without her mother's stories to it, so she headed into the first bar she saw. She hoped it wasn't the only one in town. She scoffed when she saw the name "Mystic Grill"; how original. She sat down and ordered something to drink and to eat to kill time, but she was still incredibly bored. She didn't know how she was supposed to last more than a week here. Of course she would go back to High School for appearance, but she knew that wouldn't help fight her boredom. She picked her phone out of her pocket, listened carefully, if her mother was by any chance nearby and when she realized that she wasn't, she dialed.  
"Hi, it's me again." She said cheerfully.

"Hi." He sounded surprised. "Did something happen?"

"No, everything is perfectly fine. Just letting you know that we moved again, to Mystic Falls." He was silent on the other end, she could picture him furrowing his forehead. The image made her smile.

"How does your mother handle it?"

"She needed some time for herself…"

"I guess, it was your idea to move?" He sounded accusing.

"Of course it was. I had to do something. It's time she moves on from her past and tells me something about it."

"Not your best idea, honey. It's only been 160 years."  
"Exactly! It's been 160 years! That's longer than I am alive!" He laughed at her outburst.

"Well, you are very young." He teased and she chuckled.

"When can I see you next?"

"Whenever you want to. Just call me."

"As soon as it is safe to introduce you, I will. I miss you so much." She tried to hold the tears back.

"I miss you too. You can always visit me. I love you."

"I love you too." She hung up. She had no idea when she had the chance to see him again.

She had no idea where she was supposed to go next. She left the bar to wander around. She tried to find the house her mom and she bought, but she couldn't find the address.

"Excuse me." She walked towards the couple that just exited the high school she would be visiting soon. These could very well be her future class mates. "Could you tell me where I find this address?" She showed them her phone with the address on it. The girl smiled. She had something familiar about her, even though Mary was sure she never saw her before.

"That's not far from here. Just go to the end of the street, take a left and then a right and you are there. Actually we have to go in the same directions, you can follow us if you want to. You must be new here. I am Elena and that's Stefan."

"Nice to meet you. I am Mary. My" She stopped for a second. "sister and I just moved here from Chicago."  
"What brings you to Mystic Falls?" Elena asked, she seemed nice enough and it couldn't hurt to make friends and blend in a little.

"My family is originally from here. We just wanted to go back to our roots I guess."

"So you will go to our High School?"  
"Yes, Monday is my first day."

"Where is your sister?" Stefan asked suddenly and looked her over.

"She is around somewhere here. We decided to split up and discover our new home independently." Lying was an art, Mary had mastered over the years perfectly. She didn't like the way Stefan looked at her, it creeped her out. She wanted to question him about it, when she saw her mother in a car down the street looking distressed and waving at her impatiently. "That is my sister, I guess I better go see what she wants. Nice to meet you both." She ran to her mother, she couldn't be sure, but it looked like she had been crying.

* * *

Damon entered the Mystic Grill as always, he was bored and hungry. Of course he could have just called Caroline, but she was annoying. He needed something fresh. He seemed to be in luck. Mystic Falls normally didn't bring many tourists in, but in front of him sat a girl with long black hair and blue eyes that fascinated him for some reason. He sat down at a table on the other side of the bar to watch her carefully. He was sure he never saw her before, but somehow she looked familiar. It bothered him that he couldn't think of any reason why she seemed so familiar.

She ordered something to drink and to eat and looked bored through the room. She picked her phone out of her pocket and called her boyfriend, as far as Damon could hear. He couldn't hear much, the other people next to him were too loud and the guy on the other end too quiet, so he could only listen to her end of the talk, but it was enough to get the big picture. Obviously, she hadn't seen her boyfriend in a while and missed him. She was here to learn more about her past, this part he didn't understand that well. What he did understand was that he had to be careful. She was talking about Mystic Falls' founders' days and that was never a good sign and mostly connected to the knowledge of vampires. He really didn't need any more people involved with vampires in this town!

The girl left the bar, Damon followed her after a moment, he didn't want to be too obvious. Outside he couldn't find her at first, but then he saw her talking to Stefan and Elena. He rolled his eyes, these two always had to cross him. He waited until she said her goodbyes and went a different way. Then he could strike. He still hadn't decided if he should kill her or compel the knowledge out of her, but if she really knew about vampires, chances were she also knew about vervain, which made compulsion impossible.

When she entered a car, he knew it was his chance.

* * *

Sam had still tears in her eyes, but she tried to hold it back, she didn't want Mary to see her crying and ask questions, which Sam couldn't and wouldn't answer. She really thought she was ready to face her past, but she wasn't, probably would never be.

She could see Mary from far, she was walking with two other persons and chatting along. Impatiently, Sam waved to her to hurry. She wanted to leave this town as quickly as possible. Finally Mary left her two friends and ran in human pace to the car and got in.

"Hi mom." She said happily and closed the door. "What is the hurry?" She looked closely to her mom. "Have you been crying? Is everything alright?"

Sam just focused on the street before her.

"We're going back to Chicago."

"What? NO! You can't walk away again! What happened here that you can't even stay for a day?!"

"Too many memories! You saw the town, here is nothing to do! Chicago is a nice city, I don't know what your problem is!" Mary scoffed angrily.

"That's the same excuse as always! Give it at least a try! I know it is hard for you, but I have the right to learn more about my family's history! It's the town you got to know my father and the town he died in."  
"That's why I want to go! I don't know what you're expecting, there is nothing I can show you that would make it clear for you how it was to live here!"

"You could talk to me! Tell me about your childhood, about my father and how he died, why you left this town! You've never told me anything. You always said some other time for 150 years!"

"Mary, this is not the best time to talk about all of this! I am going back to Chicago, you're old enough to decide for your own, I can't –"

"Mom! Careful!" Mary screamed and Sam could barely avoid the man walking on the street out of nowhere. Thank god for vampire reflexes, otherwise the man would be very much dead now. Sam looked into the rearview mirror to see if the man was fine and stopped the car in shock.

"What is it?" Mary watched her mom worriedly, she had lost all color.

Sam had lost herself in ice blue eyes.

_"I love you, Sammi", he took her protectively in his arm and kissed her tenderly. She gazed lovingly into his ice blue eyes._

_"I love you, too. Forever."_

Sam shock her head to wake up from her trance like state, she started shaking on her whole body. As soon as she had her body under control again, she accelerated again.

"Mom? What happened? Did you know him? Mom! Say something!" Mary was just as surprised by her mother's reaction as Sam was over the face she just saw. Sam had started to cry and could barely see the street in front of her, she just wanted far far away. What she had seen was impossible! He was dead! But she knew what she had seen was real. She would always recognize him.

"Damon Salvatore. Your father."


	4. Chapter 3

_"Damon Salvatore. Your father."_

"My what?!" Mary exclaimed in utter disbelieve. She turned around to catch another glimpse of the man her mother claimed to be her father, but Sam had made sure that the road on which the incident happened lay far behind them. "Mom stop the car!" Sam didn't listen to her, she seemed to be in a deep shock. "Mom, you can't just say that was my father and then drive away! Talk to me! Mom! Stop the car!" They were nearing the goodbye sign. Mary cursed. „Stop the car or I will jump! I am not leaving!" She opened the car door and did exactly what she just threatened to do, she jumped out of the moving car and landed – not as gracefully as she anticipated to – on the hard cement. Shaking off the dust her dramatic move had left her with, she watched her mother's car come to an abrupt stop and Sam exiting with a furious expression painting her face.

"You can't just jump out of a car in the middle of the day on the open road! That is not keeping a low profile! Did I not mention that Mystic Falls has a history of vampire hunters? I would like to get out of this town alive!" Sam screamed.

"No! You just want to get out of this town! Period!" Mary replied, equally angrily. At least Sam seemed to have stopped crying, Mary noticed pleased. Maybe now she could get some answers.

"Get back in the car." Sam gritted after they finished their little starring contest.

"No! What do you mean that was my father? You always told me he died! Is that the reason you didn't want to come back here? Did you know he was a vampire and still living here? Did he turn you against your will?" Mary drew the only conclusion she could come up with. It hurt to think that her mom wouldn't trust her enough to tell her the truth and deprived her of knowing her father, even though he still was alive.

"What?" Sam asked perplexed. "No! I had no idea! I thought he died! Scratch that! I know he died! We were at his funeral! I saw his coffin! I knew his murderer! I waited at his grave to wake up! He was dead!"

"Then this man can't possibly be my father, because zombies don't exist!"

"I know." Sam only replied in a small voice. She sat down in the middle of the street and tried to calm her breathing that came out in short sequences. She had started to shake again and her heart was pounding more irregular. She needed to get her body under control or she would need blood soon and they hadn't had time yet to steal some from the local hospital.

"Then why did you say that was my father and ran away." No matter how Mary looked at it, it just simply didn't make any sense!

"I don't know!" Sam began to cry again. "I know what I saw! That was Damon! I would always recognize him!"

"A Doppelgänger?" Mary asked in a lame attempt to figure this bizarre situation out. Sam shook her head.

"I've never heard of a Salvatore Doppelgänger, did you?"

"Well, no." Mary admitted. It would be strange, but a solid explanation. "There are people who never heard of a Petrova Doppelgänger either."

"These are long forgotten stories!"

"They are more than stories." Mary stated. Sam rolled her eyes, but slowly calmed down.

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear, but you are right, we hear more things than other people and I never ever heard of a male Doppelgänger."

"Okay, I see only four logical explanations, neither of which justify your need to run." Mary explained in a soothing tone and sat down next to her mother. "A: He was a male Doppelgänger. They exist and no one knew about it. Maybe some form of nature's loophole or what else these witches always talk about. In which case we should probably figure out what's the reason for his existence. B: This town freaked you out so much that you hallucinated and overreacted, what would just prove that you need to stay here and overcome your fear. C: He is a vampire and the funeral was just a red herring. This would mean that this man truly is my father. No way am I leaving with this chance still intact! D: He is some other supernatural being, highly unlikely, but we still need to check it out."

"I did not imagine him!" Sam gritted. She was long over that stage of her grief. There was a time she imagined him anywhere she went. It nearly killed her. "You can't just let it go, can you?" Sam asked slowly, sighing deeply.

"Mom, you just told me my father's name and I caught a glimpse of him! That is more than you told me in the last 150 years! I don't care if this man is a freaking shape shifter! I want to know what my dad looked like! You refused to give me anything! You couldn't even mention him without flinching!" Sam didn't say anything, so Mary continued. "We are in your hometown which used to be obsessed with vampires, I think C is the most likely outcome. Didn't you love him? I thought his death destroyed you? Shouldn't you be ecstatic about the possibility of seeing him again and getting a second chance?"

Sam laughed coldly. "How do you want to check your theories? We can't just knock on this poor man's door and ask him if he is a vampire! Compulsion is out of the question, this whole town is probably on vervain!" Sam wished Mary would just let it go. She wished they would have never left Chicago.

"Why are you so against the idea of him being a vampire?"

"Because" Sam began and then stopped herself. Could she really explain this to her daughter? It didn't seem like she had much of a choice. "It would mean that my father not only sabotaged my relationship to him, but staged a whole funeral to lie to me. It would mean that Damon had 150 years to look for me, but he didn't, because he hates me!"

"Why would he hate you?" Sam's answers just increased Mary's questions, but now was not the right time to ask these questions. Mary needed to prove that she was right and then she had a father to be introduced to. Dropping the question Sam clearly didn't want to answer, Mary continued to think of a plan and came out blank. "You must have some idea? Someone to ask, somewhere to look? You know this town better than I do, where could we find a sort of vampire register? Maybe in this vampire hater club? Maybe we could spy on them or we could just spy on my supposedly father?"  
"You will not get near the founder's council! They are dangerous!"  
„They are just a bunch of humans who have read too much fiction!" Mary had tried to be patient, but her mother's paranoia got annoying.

"It's a little more than fiction!" Sam replied angrily at Mary's ignorance. "My father's diaries." Sam declared finally. "If Damon really turned into a vampire, my father would have known about it, he was the one who identified the corpse. He would have mentioned it in his journals."  
"Awesome! Where do we find those?"

"I guess the library is a start." Sam sighed, bowing to Mary's wish even if she didn't feel comfortable with it. "As far as I know he donated it to the city, but with the secrets it beholds it is probably in safe keeping." Mary laughed joyfully.

"That is no problem for us!" Sam tried to reciprocate her daughter's smile, but failed miserably. Instead she got up and back to the car. She drove back towards Mystic Falls' center, towards its library. What she didn't do for her only daughter…

* * *

Damon waited patiently for the car with the girl with the black hair on the street. A car accident was by far his favorite method to get rid of unwanted attention. It was efficient and an everyday incidence so that no one would question its credibility.

When he saw the car approaching, he mentally prepared himself for the impact – the impact that never came. Confused he looked up and saw that the driver of the car managed to avoid an accident, something no one before her had ever accomplished. For a short second he locked eyes with her and froze.

It was impossible! She was dead! But he would recognize this blonde hair with these specific grey eyes everywhere. Before he could really process what just happened or mouth something, she had started the car again and raced away as if the devil were behind her.

Damon then realized that he wasn't the only one who saw what had just happend, Stefan and Elena had also seen everything and were approaching him now.

"What was that?" Elena demanded to know angrily. She couldn't believe that Damon still tried to kill innocents right in front of her eyes! Damon ignored her and instead looked to his brother who was just as shocked as Damon.

"Was that Sam?" He asked dumbfounded. Hearing her name woke Damon up entirely and put him in a rage he hadn't felt in a very long time. He vamped out and pushed Stefan against a nearby car which started the burglar alarm. Holding Stefan by his throat, Damon looked hatefully down to his brother, ignoring the threat of being discovered by the increasing sound of the car. "Didn't I tell you to never mention her name again?" Damon hissed and Stefan moaned in pain.

"Does that mean it really was her?" Stefan gasped barely able to get a word out. "Do you really want to miss that chance?" Damon scoffed, but loosened his grip on Stefan's throat.

"What chance?" Damon asked bitterly. "If it really was her than she can get the hell out of this town before I'll kill her!"

"Do you really want to ignore the fact that she may be alive just because of some mislead revenge fantasy you have because she left the town some hundred years ago?!"

"She had her chance to come back! In 160 years there was never even as much as a sign of her existence. If she is back now, I don't ever want to see her again. I feel nothing but hatred for her!" Damon spat passionately. "But I would like to know who that girl next to her was?" His questioning gaze went to Stefan and Elena who he knew had spoken to her.

"Her name is Mary, she said the woman in the car was her sister." Elena explained, glad that she could finally say something after feeling left out and not understanding a word of what was going on or who Sam was and her importance to Damon. Damon started to laugh, a laugh that send cold shivers down Elena's spine.

"We know her sister. That," he pointed to the street behind him, "was definitely not her." He stated and Stefan agreed with a nod.

"Maybe it wasn't Sam?" Stefan asked, but Damon shock his head vehemently, sending Stefan death glares for saying her name again.  
"She may be a cold hearted bitch, but I would still recognize her!"  
"Maybe it is just a coincident that they look alike?" Stefan further asked, eyeing Elena out of the corner of his eye and hoping Damon would understand what he was implying. It wasn't the first time they came across a person who looked exactly like an old girlfriend.

"That would be too big of a coincident." Damon replied also watching Elena.

"Will you talk to her?" Stefan finally asked after they both seemingly accepted the fact that it must have been Sam. Stefan knew what he had seen and he also knew that Damon wouldn't have reacted the way he did if he wasn't a 100% sure that it was in fact her. Besides another look alike in their hometown after both of them decided to return to the town would be an impossible coincident that they just couldn't accept.

"NO!" Stefan's face fell. "And you won't either!" Damon said slowly, coming dangerously close to Stefan. "If I so much as see you trying to fix things that don't need any fixing and are none of your damn business, I will gladly kill both of you." Stefan didn't pay any attention to Damon's threat. He was used to them by now. He learned that they were almost all empty. Damon glared at them once more and then turned around and left.

"Stefan, what just happened?" Elena asked her boyfriend, bewildered by the scene that had just unfolded before her. She had never seen Damon that … disordered.

"I am not sure myself." Stefan admitted weakly. Elena wasn't happy with this response naturally, but she also knew she wouldn't get any more answers out of Stefan. "Are you coming? You promised to help me volunteer at the library for the preparation for the next founder's party." She said a little more angrily than she initially intended to. She couldn't help but feel left out.

"I promise I'll join you shortly. I just have to speak to Damon first."

"Lately, you are promising a lot of things, but never ever come around to actually fulfil any of them!" Elena hissed.

"I am sorry, it's just… hard to explain." Stefan looked at his girlfriend pleadingly. Elena sighed loudly.

„Fine, go to Damon! But I am expecting you at the library with explanations. I am not dealing with Carol Lockwood all day on my own!"

* * *

Stefan found Damon drunk in the living room. Three girls sat frightened and with bloodshed eyes on the couch, while Damon asked one after the other to himself to feed from her. Before Damon could continue his little game, Stefan pushed Damon away from the poor girls.

"You see an old girlfriend and that's your reaction?" He shouted at Damon. "Instead of talking to her, which would cost you nothing but a few minutes, you prefer to drown your sorrow in blood and alcohol?"

"What sorrow?" Damon repeated and smiled. Stefan grew more agitated by the minute.

"You know exactly what I am talking about!" Stefan spat exasperated. "You are still not over her disappearance! Would now not be a perfect time to find out why it is that she left?" Damon rolled his eyes and sat down next to the girls, hugging them close, while they shivered with fear.

"I know the reason. She was a little bitch! You shouldn't always interfere with other people's business! I am over her, I don't care! How often to you want to hear it?" Damon explained nonchalantly.

"Yeah, because that's how someone acts who doesn't care." Stefan replied sarcastically. He turned to the girls and tried to soothe them.

"Everything is going to be alright. What's your name?" He asked patiently, his tone having a calming effect. The girl he was helping to get up looked at him shyly.

"Sa… Samantha." She stuttered and before Stefan could prevent it, Damon had already broken her neck. The two other girls began to scream and cry, quickly Stefan compelled them to forget everything and to leave the house.

"Why did you do that?" Stefan shouted again even angrier than before.  
"I told you, I am not tolerating her name in my house." Damon replied calmly as if Stefan had just inquired about the weather.

"I can see how you moved on." Stefan scoffed.

* * *

"For such a small town, the library is quite big." Mary turned around in awe. Sam nodded absentminded.

"What is your plan for finding these diaries?" Sam asked. It was pretty obvious that such ancient book wouldn't just lie around. Mary's eyes twinkled with mischief.

"Watch and learn." Sam didn't like the tone of that. Mary walked to the receptionist, a middle aged women with mouse brown hair and glasses.

"I am sorry. I am looking for a book, an old diary actually."

"You have to be more specific than that." The women replied annoyed.

"Johnathan Gilbert's diary from the year 1864." Sam jumped in.

"I am afraid the diaries of the founder's family are not for the public."

"OH, but my-" Sam stocked. She and Mary hadn't discussed in what relation they would prevent to be in.  
"Sister." Mary interrupted.

"Yes, we are Gilberts, you see. We are looking for our family ancestors. I am sure you can make an exception." Sam begged. Mary rolled her eyes, took a pin from the desk, pinched the thumb from the lady and licked the blood from the pin, all before the woman could even say ouch.

"Vervain free." Mary proclaimed. "So where is this diary we were asking about? It would be wonderful if you could lead us the way." Mary compelled. Sam was in shock.  
"How often did you do this before?" Sam asked trying not to sound like a mother chiding her baby girl. Mary was too old for that and hated it when Sam started to play the mom card.  
"Not a lot." Mary answered casually and followed the lady who led them down a staircase.

"All the things from the founder's family are down here. I don't know if this specific diary is here, some of the artifacts are still in the family's hand. Some volunteers are currently looking through all of this for the founder's party."  
"These still exist?" Sam asked in detest.  
"But of course!" Sam rolled her eyes at her excitement.

"Thank you that would be all. We can take it from you. Oh and forget we ever were here." Mary smiled and directed the lady back upstairs. The basement was huge and parted into different rooms. The room they were standing it was formed like a long hallway, boxes were scattered on the floor and pictures were hung at the wall. It looked and smelled moldy, somehow ancient. From another room they could hear whispers, it must have been the founders' party fanatics.

"Okay, then start looking for it. It's an ordinary old diary, not much to describe sadly. Let's hope we find it." Sam sighed and started to dig through boxes. She couldn't find anything extraordinary, frankly she couldn't believe anyone kept that nonsense! She found letters and documents without any content. People talking about the weather or a church service. But Mary was fascinated by every little detail, always imagining how her mother stood in relation to the people she were reading about. She hoped to find something of the Salvatores' but having none such luck so far.

"Mom!" Mary called laughingly from the other side of the room. "Come here. You have to see that!"

That's when Stefan entered the basement in search for Elena. When he saw Mary, he didn't think twice before joining her.

"Mary, right?" He asked again. Mary nodded surprised. She had forgotten that other people were here as well for some lame party. "Did you just call for your mom? I thought you live with your sister?" Mary stepped from one food to the other awkwardly.

„I am. It's kinda an insight joke. Long story." She deflected quickly.

"What is it Mary? Did you find something?" Sam had found her way over to her, only now realizing that she wasn't alone. When she saw who it was, she was left speechless. Stefan didn't feel any differently.

_Sam spied Mr. Salvatore on the opposite side of the street and smiled. She couldn't help it, seeing Mr. Salvatore always made her happy, he was handsome no question, but he was so much more than that._

_She strolled over to him, Emily, her maid, following behind her unwillingly._

_"Ms. Gilbert." He said when he saw her approaching and smiled as well. "What a coincident, our ways seem to cross quite often recently." Sam blushed.  
"It appears so." She agreed. A boy of maybe 9 years with beautiful green eyes and brown hair suddenly tugged at his jacket. Sam knew him, she had seen him in church._

_"Damon, we have to go!" He murmured._

_"Wait a moment." He rolled his eyes, but Sam could see how fond these two were of each other, he took the little boy's hand. "I want you to meet someone first. That is Ms. Samantha Gilbert."  
"The girl you went to church for?" He asked innocently and made his brother blush. Sam giggled softly. Damon cleared his throat and continued his introductions._

_"Ms. Gilbert, may I introduce you to my little brother, Stefan Salvatore."_

"Ehm… Sam, that is Stefan." Mary introduced them both and Sam laughed out loud.  
"I know!" She replied happily and hugged Stefan tight. "I can't believe it! I mean – how are you alive? - Who turned you?" She was completely flabbergasted.

"Long story, some girl that came to town after you left. But how – is that why you left?" He was just as dumbfounded.

"No, I turned a bit later. I just – you look exactly the same!" She laughed again happily. "I know pretty obvious, but - I've never thought I'll see you again!"  
"I could say the same thing." Stefan said still in shock over seeing her.

"Sorry, but what is going on?" Mary interrupted the happy reunion a little annoyed. Sam smiled at her daughter apologetic.

"I am sorry, honey. Mary, that is Stefan."

"Yeah, I got that!" Sam took one deep breath. Lying was pointless.

"Your uncle. Stefan, that is Mary, your nice." Mary's eyes got big, but she accepted it quickly. It wasn't the strangest thing she heard today. Stefan on the other hand seemed to have lost all rational thoughts. It took him a while to collect his wits again and realize what that meant.

"Mary is your daughter." Sam nodded. "You have a daughter?" Somehow that was more of a shock to him than Sam being a vampire and still alive. "But the father- OMG!" Sam just nodded again, this time a little embarrassed and quite sadly. "What the fuck happened back then?!"

"That is a very long story. What did he tell you?" Stefan just snorted.

"Nothing. He was heartbroken, just said you left. I've never got any more out of him. Did he know?" He pointed to Mary as if she was some alien creature. Mary tried not to take it too personal.

"No, he had no idea." She stopped. "He is also a vampire, isn't he?" There was no denying it with Stefan standing before her now. Stefan nodded. "Did he see me?" She asked shyly, not knowing which answer she would prefer.

"Yes."  
"How did he react?" Stefan didn't know how to answer that question, he didn't want to hurt Sam's feelings, but he also didn't want to give her any false hope.

"He was… surprised." He replied diplomatically, but Sam understood.

"We are talking about my father, Damon Salvatore, right?" Mary asked, looking like a five year old on Christmas day.  
"Yes." Sam replied. Stefan couldn't believe that he just heard Damon's name and father in the same sentence. "You know you can tell me the truth. If I were him, I would hate me too. How bad was it really?" Stefan hesitated again.

"He is hurt and angry." Sam sighed annoyed.

"Just tell me. I am not going to break down! It's been almost two centuries!"

"Are you sure? Damon changed a lot after you left and then again when he became a vampire. He is the complete opposite of the man you once knew."

"Vampirism only amplifies what you already are. He may have changed, but no one changes that much. It sounds as if you don't even know your own brother anymore!" Sam replied angrily, still defending Damon even after all these years and having no clue of what a man he became. She had no idea if what she was saying was true and it scared her.

"Yes, that's how it feels sometimes." Stefan admitted sadly.

"You want to tell me that the inseparable Salvatore brothers turned together and then just decided to go different ways?" Sam couldn't believe it. She had always admired Stefan's and Damon's relationship, had always wished her own sister and her were as close.  
"You don't know how he changed, Sam. He made it his life mission to ruin my life. You remember your relationship to your sister?" Sam snorted.  
"Yes, of course I do."  
"It's worse than that. He is ruthless. I only saw him a few times in the last century and I saw him be cruel and murder a lot of people, but I guess we all have, but Damon never stopped. Sometimes I had still hope for him when I saw him have mercy for a few, but I've never seen him let someone live by the name of Samantha." Sam flinched and Mary was shocked. That is not how she imagined her father.

"Damon isn't really a name often used. Who knows if I would have done the same thing." Sam lied.

"Why did you leave, when you were pregnant? What did you tell him?" Stefan asked desperate for answers. Mary seemed forgotten, but she listened closely to every word that was spoken.

"I think, you should ask your brother that. I don't think it is such a good idea if I stay in Mystic Falls. The town never liked me much."

"We are staying!" Mary exclaimed.

"Yes, the town loved you!" Stefan laughed.

"That's not how I remember it."

"Stefan, here you are. I was just about to call you! I thought you forgot again!" A girl with long brown hair approached them, waving her phone in her hand and putting it back in her pocket. Stefan looked at her apologetic.

"I am sorry, Elena, but I met some old friends." He pointed to Sam and Mary. Elena gave both of them her hand. She recognized Mary from earlier, but couldn't quite understand what Stefan meant with old friends.

"That's Elena Gilbert, my girlfriend and she knows what I am." He added, before someone could ask. Sam looked at her dumbfounded and then happily to Stefan.

"Your girlfriend? Finally! I really thought you would marry this horrible Rosalyn your father set you up with!" Stefan rolled his eyes and Elena grinned widely. "A Gilbert and a Salvatore together in Mystic Falls. What would your father say?" Sam asked bitterly.

"I've never saw it like that." Stefan replied sheepishly. Sam laughed coldly.

"Your girlfriend is a Gilbert and you didn't see the parallels? What did he say about it?"

"Damon never mentioned it." Sam was surprised.

„Never?" Stefan nodded.

"Excuse me, but how do you know each other?" Elena interrupted.

"Elena, this are Samantha Gilbert and her daughter Mary." When Elena heard the familiar name, she beamed.

"Yes, I am a Gilbert as well, nothing I am proud of. I am Jonathan Gilbert's daughter, the name probably doesn't ring a bell with you, he was one of the founding fathers, you must be so unfortunate as to be a descendant of my sister."

"I heard of Jonathan!" Elena exclaimed. "But I thought Jonathan had only one daughter?"  
"Yes, well. He was pretty thorough in cutting me out of his life."

"Why did he cut you out? How do you know each other?" Elena was still confused.

"I am Damon's ex-girlfriend." Sam explained quickly. It felt strange to say that.

"Ex-fiancée." Stefan corrected. That's when Elena openly started to gape. Sam closed her eyes.

"Right." Not that she had forgotten, how could she?  
"Damon was engaged?!" Elena squeaked. "Were you-" Elena searched for the right word. "supposed to marry?" Sam laughed.

"No that would have been nice though, but Damon would have never agreed to marry anyone he didn't want to."

"To be honest, I find it hard to believe that Damon would marry anyone."  
"What do you mean? Damon always wanted a family!" Sam remembered all the times, she sat with Damon and imagined a better future.

"Damon?" Elena repeated in disbelieve. „When was that supposed to be?"

"Damon was a completely different man back then. "Stefan interjected.  
"Okay." Elena tried to process that information. "How often was Damon engaged before he met Katherine and afterwards?" Mary squinted her eyes and Sam grew agitated.

"How often?! Once! When he was human!" Then she realized that she didn't know if that was true. She just assumed that she had been the only one and who was Katherine?!

"Yes only once." Stefan agreed and Sam felt relieved, but tried not to let it show. Elena was still confused. "Before Katherine, Damon had only one girlfriend. As a human he was by far not as popular as he would like everyone to believe. He was with Sam for-" He counted in his head. "6 years." Elena looked at Sam as if she was a miracle.

"6 years?! One girlfriend before Katherine? But what… Why?" Realizing something of more importance she quickly added. "Did you say Mary is your daughter?" Sam nodded.

"Yes, Damon is the father and no he doesn't know it yet." Elena didn't know what to say, so Stefan jumped in.

"But you are going to tell him, you are staying in Mystic Falls, aren't you?" Mary pinched her mother demandingly, when she didn't answer immediately.

"Yes we are staying. I want to know my father! I just learned more about him in 5 minutes than in the last 150 years!"

"I didn't know he was still alive!" Sam defended herself. "By the way, how are you still alive? I was at your funeral! I saw your coffins being lowered into the ground! My father and yours both vouched that it was your body in the grave." Stefan shrugged.  
"It's a long story. You should come to my house later then I can tell you everything and I still have a few questions as well."

"Sounds great. Did you find the diary?" Sam asked her daughter, remembering why they originally came here. Mary shook her head, but grinned. She pointed to a series of pictures on the wall.  
"I found something better." Sam only now realized that they stood in front of the Miss Mystic Falls picture collection. Sam moaned.

"I can't believe they kept that! Gosh, look at me! These dresses were torture and this fake smile!" Elena looked impressed.

"I think you look great and the dresses are so beautiful."  
"Well, you aren't the one that had to wear them."

"So you were the first Miss Mystic." Elena couldn't stop staring. Sam grinned.

"Yes and the second. The third time I refused to participate. Believe me it sounds like so much more fun than it is."

"You've never told me you were Miss Mystic, mom." Mary sounded hurt.

"I remember you had a lot of fun at these events." Stefan stated.

"Yes, but only because of you two, otherwise I would have died of boredom."

"That's not true. You had fun on the first founder's party and you didn't even know us yet." Sam stated victoriously.

"But that's when I got to know Damon."

* * *

Sam stood impressed in front of the new Salvatore pension. Stefan had invited them over to his home to talk in peace after Carol Lockwood scolded them for standing around and not doing their work. She had confused Mary and Sam for volunteers.

"Wow! You really didn't want to attract any attention, did you?" Sam said sarcastically. Stefan shrugged.

"It was built shortly after the old Salvatore house burnt to the ground." They went in and inside it seemed even bigger.

"Didn't you live in such a big house, as well mom?" Mary asked. Sam smiled.

"Of course, but that was in the middle of the 19th century, it wasn't such a big deal. After I left, I've never lived in such a big house again." She turned once around and took it all in. "You took over Damon's taste." Sam commented. Elena was about to reply something, but Stefan stopped her. Mary turned also in awe. She had always lived in a house, but she was always modest about it. She had learned to live with the time from her mother, something her boyfriend often struggled with.

"You and Elena live here?" She asked her new found uncle. It felt strange, good strange, to have a whole family now.

"I do, Elena not really, but she might as well do." Stefan smiled lovingly at his girlfriend.

"How often do you come back here?" Sam asked.

"Every 50 years. I had a great-great-great nephew who lived here as well, but Damon killed him." Sam flinched.

"That means without counting you, there are no further Salvatores?"

"No, everyone is dead…"

"How many Gilberts are still alive?" She looked at Elena.

"Not many." Elena admitted. "My parents are dead. There are still my uncle, Jonathan Gilbert, and my brother, Jeremy." There all sat down in the living room.  
"I am sorry Elena." Sam said and really meant it, she knew what it meant to loose everyone you cared about. "With whom are you living?"

"With my aunt, Jenna Sommer." For a short moment they stayed in an uncomfortable silence, but then Sam asked.

"Do you know what happened to my father's diaries?"

"Jeremy has one, but I heard there are others, but they have to be somewhere under lock up. I read it, there wasn't anything about you… or Stefan or Damon." Elena added. Sam breathed out relieved.

"Good. The diaries are not for the commonwealth."

The door opened and closed, everyone turned to look at the intruder. It was dead silent in the room. Sam got up and then froze and started shaking.

"Damon." She whispered.


	5. Chapter 4

"Damon." Sam whispered at the same time that Damon stopped in his track and almost stumbled over his own feet. He opened his mouth and closed it again. Then he frowned and turned away from her to address his brother. "What is she doing he? She has no business being here!" He screamed. The initial surprise leaving his face and making space for anger. Stefan watched his brother carefully, but only shrugged.

"She is standing right in front of you, tell her yourself."

Damon didn't look at her, but she didn't care. She still couldn't believe her eyes. After 147 years he was standing in front of her, it was enough to make her feel light-headed.

"I am sorry, Stefan didn't say that you were planning on visiting." Sam apologized, even though she didn't feel sorry at all. She would have wanted to see him one way or another. She couldn't stop gaping. He was really standing before her!

Slowly Damon turned around to her and looked directly into her eyes. It broke Sam's heart. She had never seen him look that disgusted or hateful at anyone, least of all her! She gulped.

"I live here! And of course Stefan didn't tell you that, because he can't mind his own damn business!" Damon gritted. "Now get out! I don't want to see you nor talk to you!" He spat. Stefan stood protectively in front of Sam. He wasn't sure how far Damon would go in his rage. Damon scoffed. "Get out!" He repeated. Sam didn't move. "Get out! Get out!" Damon yelled, pushed Stefan away and got into her face, but Sam stood her ground and just shook her head. She wasn't afraid of Damon.

"No."

"Get out!" He screamed angrily again, standing so close to her that she could feel his breath on her face.

"NO!" Sam replied equally as loud, both of them breathing heavily.

"Stop!" Stefan interrupted, standing up again and pulling Damon away. "Sam is my guest, she can stay here as long as she wants! You're not the only one living here!"

"This is my home!" Damon gritted. Sam could only look at Damon in disbelief, he really did change. She was reminded of another Salvatore saying these exact words in a similar angry way.

"What happened to you? You sound like your father!" She whispered weakly and the next second she was pressed against the wall with Damon hovering above her, his hand around her throat squeezing hard. She coughed.

"You ask what happened? Are you serious?" He hissed. "I think you remember quite vividly what happened to me, Samantha." The way he said her name, so cold and heartless, made her shudder. Not at all like she remembered it. She never thought it possible for her to be afraid of Damon, but right now she wasn't sure what he was able to do. She wanted to defend herself, make him understand, but as soon as she opened her mouth he strengthened his grip around her throat. She choked louder. Mary stood on the side and watched her parents with terror.

"MOM!" Mary suddenly screamed frightened. She had stood silently to the side watching the drama unfold before her, but now she was about to jump onto Damon to get him off her mother, but Stefan held her back. Damon loosened his grip and turned to Mary and then back to Sam stunned.

"I knew she wasn't your sister, but I didn't expect this. Your daughter?!" Sam pushed Damon away, coughed some more, hands on her throat and looked at Damon scared.

"I get it! You hate me, but please let me explain!" She begged. "Just listen to me like a normal person!" She stood upright again, going over to Mary. Damon just scoffed.

"I already know your explanation!"

_"There you are." He grinned. "Are you feeling better." He leaned forward to kiss her, but she side stepped him._

_"Yes. I am healthy again." Damon stepped back and looked at her closely worriedly._

_"Are you sure?" She didn't smile at him._

_"Yes, I am sure." Sam looked around. The market was full of people. She took Damon's hand. "Let's go somewhere else." Damon followed her without a second thought. He would always follow her. She led him towards the forest, but Damon pulled her a little further to their secret meeting place._

_"What is it?" He asked as soon as both of them sat down. Her breath went fast. She couldn't look at him._

_"I am leaving town, today." She said. Damon just looked dumbfounded at her._

_"What?" Sam looked in the opposite direction._

_"You heard me."_

_"Then I am leaving with you." She smiled sadly, but shook her head._

_"No. I am going alone." She looked meaningful at him, it took a while for Damon to understand._

_"Why?" He turned her head to him, forcing her to look at him. "If you want to break up with me, the least you can do is look me in the eyes!" He was mad, his eyes sparkled with anger. She glared equally upset back at him._

_"What do you want to hear from me? There is nothing more to say!"_

_"Really? You're leaving town is all I get?! Don't you think I deserve more? Like why?"_

_"I am not sure, if we really belong together." Damon laughed coldly._

_"Did you learn this by heart? I don't believe you!"_

_"No! Do you want an explanation or not? We've been together for six years, I don't know anything but being with you! And when I kissed George, I realized for the first time that you're not the only man in the world."_

_"You kissed George?" She looked at him guiltily._

_"Yes." She waited for him to scream at her, but he just looked hurt, which was even worse and broke her heart. So she continued quickly. "We should have listened to our parents, we are just not meant to be!"_

_"So you are leaving me for George Lockwood?!" He sounded sarcastic. "No. I am leaving town alone. I have to find myself! I don't have a future with you! We would end up on the street! I want to help people, be a doctor of some kind and I am never going to have that chance here." Sam stood up. "Goodbye, Damon." She wanted to leave, but Damon stopped her._

_"So that's the last time we are going to see each other?" Sam nodded. "You really want to go? If that is another crazy idea of our parents, just give me a sign. We will figure something out." She looked at him for what felt like an eternity._

_"It is my decision." She said it with a straight face, while she was crying on the inside._

_"I see." He went to her and kissed her. She hadn't calculated this move and reciprocated the kiss out of habit, but she was also the one who ended it. They both looked at each other, trying to remember the other one, while trying not to cry._

_"I love you." He said, but Sam didn't reply. "When you came back to your senses and return to Mystic Falls, I will be here waiting for you. I will always love you." A tear strolled down Sam's cheek._

_"Don't wait for me. I promise you, I won't come back." She left, leaving Damon behind._

 

"You kept your promise." Damon said coldly. Sam turned her gaze down, ashamed.

"You didn't." Damon looked up to her, if possible even more angry and hateful. "Do you want to know why I really left?" She asked. He didn't move, seemingly nonchalant. But he had to be curious at least! "I was pregnant you idiot! Our parents decided that I couldn't stay in Mystic Falls with a child out of wedlock, so they made me leave so that we both could have a future!" He burst out laughing, sarcastically.

"That worked out just fine, didn't it? I turned two years later and how long did you survive? You look not much older than when I last saw you."

"I turned 1863." She explained and Damon nodded.

"That's why you look the same."

"You didn't change much either." She said smiling, glad they were talking civilly now.

"You don't know me!" He spat. "So, who is the father? George Lockwood?" Sam stepped back. His question felt like a slap in the face. She couldn't believe he just asked that. "WHAT?" She screamed in disbelieve.

"Not Eric then?" Damon continued casually. "Who then? Tobias maybe? Or someone from outside Mystic Falls? I don't know with whom you slept. Is that why you left Mystic Falls?" She slapped him, hard. Enough was enough. Everyone else in the room had stopped breathing. She didn't care! No one spoke to her like that!

"You did not just call me a whore!" She gritted through her teeth.

"Don't do that again." Damon walked threateningly in her direction. Sam didn't move an inch. She glared self-confidently in his eyes.

"What then? Hmm? You would never hurt me!"

"Don't tempt me, honey." He threatened. "I don't know why you're so upset. My guesses are as good as any. I don't know with whom you cheated on me. I am assuming George wasn't the only one, was he?" She slapped him again, or at least she tried, but Damon caught her wrist and held it tight.

"That was predictable." He hissed and let go off her hand again.

"You are her damn father! Do you really think, I betrayed you?! Don't you think if I had realized that I don't love you anymore, I would have just said so?! Do you know how much easier my live would have been?!" Damon scoffed.

"If I am the father, why did you leave?! When you loved me, why did you leave?! You don't need to tell me lies!" Damon stayed calm, while Sam slowly lost it. She grabbed the first object she could get a hold off, a lamp, and threw it at Damon. He ducked effortlessly.

"You want to discuss if I really loved you?!" She screamed nearly hysteric. "Are you serious?!" She threw a book at him and a next and a next. "Everyone knew I was head over heels in love with you! I just told you, I left, because I was pregnant! Pregnant! You are a father! And you ask me if I loved you?!" She screeched. "What happened to you?!" She had started crying. Damon didn't do anything, just watched. Mary and Elena couldn't do much else either. Stefan was the only one who went to Sam and tried to calm her down, but she shook him angrily down. He got a hold off her hands while she was still trashing around and forced her to look at him.

"Sam? Sam! You need to calm down!" He said and Sam finally listened. She stopped moving and calmed her breathing. She freed herself again and looked around at the mess she created. Damon grinned at her smugly. She looked at each of them hatefully.

"Okay. Stefan go to your room and take Mary and Elena with you. Your brother and I have to discuss some things." No one moved. "Didn't I speak clearly? Leave! That's none of your business!" Stefan shook his head at the both of them, but took Elena's hand and moved upstairs. Mary stayed. "Please, Mary."

"Fine." She agreed reluctantly. "But I think he is a dick!" Damon waited till he heard the door closing upstairs to address Sam.

"This is my house!"

"Did you want them to witness this? Your daughter already has a great first impression. Hate me all you want, but at least don't let the other's see it!" Damon didn't answer. "You're welcome." She replied ironically.

"They are all vampires! They can still hear us." He said calmly. "You're the only one losing it here." He went to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of bourbon. When he emptied it in one go and poured himself the next, Sam looked at him shocked.

"Since when are you drinking?"

"1862, honey." He cheered to her. She scoffed. "Of course, blame me!"

"If I remember correctly, it was your fault. You were the one who left."

"Do you really think I left because I wanted to? Don't you think, I would have liked to raise Mary with you?!"

"But you didn't!"

"When our parents realized I was pregnant they locked me in my room and told me and everyone else I was critically ill. Now I am not stupid, I figured it out pretty quickly. I wanted to tell you, but they made me choose, after all I brought dishonor on both our families. They would kill you and let me and my baby live in peace or I leave the city, never come back and raise my child at my uncle's without anyone knowing of my pregnancy. It wasn't much of a choice now, was it?" She asked bitterly.

"You believed them?"

"Well, your father never was above killing you."

"That may explain, why you left, but not why you never returned after you turned into a vampire."

"What would you have wanted me to do? I died and woke up a vampire? The same creature my father spend his life hunting. Not only that, but with a human baby girl, a severe depression and a bloodlust I could barely contain. I had to get used to a new life. I hated myself! I had become a monster. I didn't want to do the same to you.

"And after I got used to it, a year had gone by. I didn't know what happened to you. I didn't know if you had moved on and then I met Stefan and he told me you were both in love with the same women. I didn't want to destroy your life again.

"Maybe I would have come back. I missed you so much and Mary reminded me so much of you. Then I read in the newspaper that you died. I returned to Mystic Falls to attend your funeral. I thought you died! I mourned you! What is your excuse for never looking for me, after you turned?"

Damon looked at her for a while without saying a word.

"After you left Mystic Falls, you met Stefan?"

"He never told you?"

"No!"

Sam laughed. "I can't blame him."

"It would have saved me a lot of work." Damon whispered.

"Why?"

"Because I searched for you." Damon admitted. "After Katherine died, I had to leave town anyway. It wasn't hard to figure out you went to your uncle's, but I didn't know where that was. I found him eventually, but he barely talked to me, he just said you died a few years ago."

"You believed my uncle?"

"You believed me dead as well!"

"I believed your father, who told me, he killed both of you, because you were vampire sympathizers. I believed Emily, who told me she couldn't save you anymore!"

"Emily hated me! Always had! She knew Katherine gave us her blood, she knew we turned. She never told me you were still alive!" Sam gulped. 150 years of heartbreak, because of simple misunderstandings and people being against them.

"Would I have come back earlier, would you have chosen me or Katherine?"

"We will never know now, will we?" Sam nodded sadly.

"I guess you're right."

"I hope you don't expect to start of where we left our relationship! You left! You left and didn't come back! You never told me you were pregnant!" Damon grew louder and angrier again.

"Do you hate me?" Sam couldn't help but ask.

"No." He shook his head. "Hating you would mean I care about you."

"So I don't matter to you?" Sam couldn't believe that.

"I am not human. All I care about is blood, alcohol and sex."

"That's the kind of vampire you are?! One who plays with everyone? I swear, if you play with Mary, I will kill you!" Sam replied quite seriously. Damon laughed out loud, not believing a word she said.

"You would never kill me!"

"Hurt my daughter and watch me!" Damon still grinned. He slowly approached Sam, walking forward and forcing her to step backwards until she hid the kitchen counter. He touched her waist and lifted her up on the counter. She shrieked surprised.

"What are you –" He shut her up with a passionate kiss. She was taken completely by surprise, but reciprocated the kiss immediately, more enthusiastically than Damon expected. She ran her hands through his hair, pulling him even closer if possible. Damon's hands seemed to be everywhere burning her skin.

He ended the kiss; both of them with bruised lips and breathing heavily. Sam buried her face in his neck and started to laugh. This was crazy! A few minutes earlier they wanted to kill each other! Even Damon grinned happily. Sam was still holding Damon's one hand while the other played with his hair, his other hand was still holding onto her waist. He held their joined hands in front of her face.

"That is why you would never kill me." He smiley smugly at her. She let go as fast as she could, pushed him away and jumped from the counter.

"You! ARE! AN! ASSHOLE!" She joined every word with a smack against his chest. She tried to hold the tears back, but being manipulated by the person she had loved once more than life itself, was nothing she could just shrug off. He held her tight, so that she couldn't hit him anymore, so instead she just cried into his shirt, which she hated herself for. He rubbed her back soothingly, which just confused her. One minute he was screaming at her and the next kissing her just to announce that he only did it to prove a point. And now he was comforting her.

"Get used to it. I am not the Damon you used to know. I don't follow the rules anymore and don't care about anyone but myself." At his words Sam started to giggle uncontrollably, so much so that Damon pulled her an arm's length away to look at her.

"When did you ever follow the rules or care about anyone but yourself."

"Ouch." He said in mock hurt.

"Well, besides Stefan or me." She clarified. His grin fell. His head was hovering above hers. She just had to stretch a few inches to meet his lips with hers, but she wouldn't make the same mistake twice. "You can let go of me now." She said. He looked down at his hands that still held her tight as if he didn't know he still did that.

"What even brought you to Mystic Falls?" he asked, stepping back and giving Sam space to breath.

"Mary wanted to see my home town and learn all about my past. I guess she is going to get her wish; she is going to be so happy. She really wants to get to know you, so please be nice to her!" She begged.

"I can't promise you anything!" Sam continued to look at Damon, still awestruck that he was alive. No matter how much they fought, everything was worth knowing that he was still alive.

"NO." He said suddenly. Sam didn't understand.

"What?"

"I always knew what you were thinking."

"Really? Then please enlighten me!"

"Now that we are both in Mystic Falls, you think we can start all from scratch or continue were we left off. But that won't happen! Never again! You had your chance, so stop looking at me like this! Mary can get to know me, but we are never going to ride into the sunset together. When I return, I want you out of my house!" He left, leaving Sam stunned behind. Why the mood-swings? She was rooted to the spot, starring after Damon. Today was just too much. She could only handle so much. She saw him, they fought, he kissed her, said it was only a game, then he said he didn't want to see her and just left! What should she do now?!

* * *

Her mom really send her upstairs as if she was a little girl! She had never seen her mom lose her calm like this, so angry and desperate! She didn't like it! And she didn't like her father! He seemed like an asshole! Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to come to Mystic Falls after all. But she really had wanted to get to know her dad! He may be a psychopath but he was still her father!

Elena and Stefan got comfortable on the bed in what must be Stefan's room.

"I've never seen Damon like this." Elena said excitedly. "You neither, Stefan!" She added smiling. "You acted like a nice little puppy."

"They want to talk alone and I respect their decision." Stefan said.

"Sure."

"Besides Sam is like the big sister I've never had!" Mary just rolled her eyes and shushed them. She wanted to hear what her parents –she know had two, she squeled on the inside- said or rather fought about. They talked like two little children. Suddenly she couldn't hear anything anymore. She made a face. Her mother was making out with her father in the kitchen.

"I can't imagine them ever being together!" Mary said when the fighting started from scratch again. Elena nodded. "That must have been one dysfunctional relationship." She added. Stefan frowned at both of them. "Believe me, those two were together! Happily so! And they had to go through a lot of crap together! I know because I was there."

"How was mom as a human? She never talks about her time in Mystic Falls."

"Or Damon?" Elena jumped in. "I can't really imagine him as a good citizen." Both girls waited patiently for Stefan to explain. He scoffed.

"You should ask them, it's not like they shared most of their stories or secrets with me. They were together for 6 years, were the most talked about couple in Mystic Falls, but managed to make everything a secret!"

"Most talked about couple? Is that like a trophy they got?" Stefan laughed.

"You have your father's humor." He sighed. "I don't feel good talking about them. I don't even know if what I know is true, they could have been lying to me." Mary rolled her eyes.

"Just tell us! Mom never tells me anything!" So Stefan began to talk.

"You have to know that Guiseppe Salvatore and Jonathan Gilbert were practically enemies. They belonged to the two wealthiest families of Mystic Falls, even among the other founder's families. I honestly don't know why they hated each other. Both of them helped found this city, but as far as I know they couldn't stand each other from the moment they met, maybe because they were so similar, I don't know. They both had lost their wives and both of them were left with two children that they now had to raise on their own. One had two boys, Damon and me, the other two girls, Samantha and Lucia. The founding families lived roughly about a year in this general area, before they officially founded the city and celebrated the first founder's party in 1856.

"Damon and Sam were both poster children, if one only looked at the obvious facts. They were both smart, good looking, from a good family and everything pointed to a wonderful future. Damon, of course, liked to bend the rules a little. He was 16 at the time and had no idea of his future, who he would marry or what he would do in general with his life. Father didn't really put any restrictions on him, he only always said to him that it was time for Damon to decide on **something**  of course he didn't expect Damon to fall for a Gilbert of all people.

"Sam had a different problem. She always did what her father told her and she was betrothed to George Lockwood. Their parents had decided that years ago, Sam was aware and so was everyone else, but no one really talked about it since it wasn't official until Eric asked her and she said yes. If she hadn't met Damon, she would have said yes.

"Sam was always very opinionated, even though she wasn't allowed to voice her opinion without being asked to, she somehow managed to come across as vain. I think partially deliberately. You only rarely saw her in society meetings. Personally, I lived in Mystic Falls for a year before this first founder's party and had never seen her before. It must have been the same for Damon. Sam said she met Damon at that first party, but I don't know anything about that. The official story was that they met in church.

"It doesn't really matter, it didn't take long before you didn't see one without the other. In the beginning our parents were actually happy about this development, they had a positive influence on each other and it was only an innocent romance. Sam was only 14 at the time. Damon followed more of the social rules for Sam's sake and Sam actually attended parties to see Damon. No one really thought anything of it, until they started officially dating. It wasn't an innocent infuriation anymore. They kissed publicly, they attended parties together and that started to get everyone's attention. Our parents realized it wasn't going to end the way they wanted to. To be honest, Damon and Sam weren't good at hiding it or didn't really try. Sam jeopardized her future engagement and Jonathan started to threaten her and force her to end things with Damon, but Sam didn't even think about it. It got really bad, when George officially asked her to marry him and Sam said no and everyone knew why. Guiseppe and Jonathan were furious! After that the threats became more real, both fathers threatened to threw Damon and Sam out if they didn't end it. They had both difficulties to find a suitable partner for the both of them. I mean by that time it was pretty clear that Sam wouldn't start any marriage pure, and every wife of Damon's would have to live with the fact that Damon would always despise her for ruining his chances of a life with Sam.

"Sam and Damon weren't faced with the threats. They were together for too long to worry about something like that. They hid it from their fathers. The town loved them. You have to remember the country was at war, it was a nice distraction. I guess it gave people hope. Everyone talked about them, everyone watched them, but no one talked to their fathers to help them or let them see reason. I mean at this point the only reason they couldn't be together was their father's hatred for each other and their stubbornness. Well, Damon and Sam were pretty rebellious at the time which didn't help our fathers' tolerance. The older they got, the more attention they got and in more trouble they got. Their parents locked them in their rooms, tried to force them to marry someone else, but they somehow managed to refuse. The situation got even worse, when Sam and Damon got engaged against their fathers' wishes and decided to move in together and start a family. They both stood with one foot on the street without any money. Both of them depended on their fathers for money. Sam more so than Damon, but of course they didn't care, they were if possible even more stubborn than their fathers! I guess, when Sam realized she was pregnant, she finally accepted her fate and left.

"Ironically, Guiseppe and Jonathan got by fine when Sam left Mystic Falls and Jonathan never spoke of his eldest daughter again."

"That's terrible!" Elena exclaimed when Stefan had finished. Mary listened for noises downstairs. She could understand her mother a little better after hearing her story. She could hear Damon leaving the house, but couldn't hear her mother.

"We have to help them! They need to be together. They can't have all this history and pain and then see each other after a century, because both of them turned into vampires separately and NOT be together! That is fate! Damon needs someone like Sam!" Elena looked at the other two in question. She already formed a million plans in her head. Stefan smiled at his girlfriend.

"I am in." He said. Stefan didn't think they had to mend a lot to accomplish that. Sam and Damon were meant to be, Damon was stubborn but he wasn't that self destructive to deny himself the pleasure of being with Sam. Mary wasn't sure if she really wanted to get involved in her parents' love life. Well, it was pretty obvious that her mom still had feelings for her father and what child didn't dream of her parents being together? Still, she wasn't as sure as Elena if they belonged together. Her father seemed... weird. Without answering Stefan and Elena she went downstairs to look after her mom.

"Mom?" Mary asked carefully. Sam was looking at the door like in trance. It scared Mary. Sam slowly moved her head in her daughter's direction.

"Did you listen to our talk? I guess Stefan told you about our past." She sounded cold. Mary looked guilty to the ground.

"Mom it's been 145 years ago. He isn't the person you fell in love with anymore." Sam didn't listen to her.

"Stay at your uncle's. I am going in town." Mary stood in her way.

"You are not going to follow Damon! Show some self respect!" She wouldn't let her mom be talked to like that! Her mom was just too inexperienced to be left alone.

"You don't know him like I do!" Sam screamed. Mary rolled her eyes and didn't move.

"You know the human guy, not the 100 years old vampire. Just trust me on this one." Sam sighed heavily.

"Just let me go, please Mary. You wanted me to come to terms with my past. Well, Damon is my past." Mary stepped aside reluctantly.

"You're going to regret this." She hissed quietly. Sam laughed.

"Who is the mother and who is the daughter?"

"At the moment you don't act like a responsible mother." Mary said, watching her mother follow her father.


	6. Chapter 5

Sam entered the Mystic Grill. She had never been in here before. Women weren't allowed inside back then. Everyone had made that very clear when she had been looking for Damon after a fight they had.

 

_"Oh no! No women! At least none with so many clothes on." A guy she had never seen before, but by the smell of it spent a lot of time in this bar, stood in her way as soon as she opened the door. He looked at her in a way that made her feel very uncomfortable and made her want to run back outside, but she needed to talk to Damon._

_"I just need to talk to my boyfriend." She tried to get passed him, but bumped into George Lockwood and Tobias Forbes, who came in behind her._

_"You need to leave!" All three of them talked at her at the same time. She just wanted to go to Damon! She caught a glimpse of him, when the guy she didn't know stepped a little aside._

_"Damon!" she called, but he didn't hear her. The music was too loud and he didn't seem to pay much attention to his surroundings. "I see him over there; I will be out of your hair in a minute. I promise!" She begged desperately. George gripped her arm to push her outside again. She nearly stumbled, but he caught her in time._

_"Let go of me!" She screamed. "Why did you tell Damon I would go to the Miss Mystic pageant with you again?!"_

_"Because it's the truth." He answered calmly._

_"It is not! I am going with Damon!"_

_"You are my future wife!" He looked down on her. She wanted to spit in his face, but she was in enough trouble already. So instead, she turned around and made a good face to a horrible situation, like she always did._

She had felt so helpless back then. Her father had screamed at her and Damon wasn't allowed inside her house again, supposedly because he was bad influence on her!

It gave her a strange kind of pleasure now to finally step inside. She had been in many bars of course, but just imagining her father's face made her excited.

It smelled a lot better than she expected. Well of course it did, but somehow she had imagined smelling cigarettes, a lot of alcohol, puke, and maybe even blood, but instead she smelled food and only small traces of alcohol. There was a pool table and people chatted happily. It was actually quite nice.

She spotted Damon immediately. He sat at the bar, and in front of him were a few empty glasses. Bourbon, by the look of it. She recognized no one else at the bar, but that was to be expected. In her head, the Mystic Grill was a part of her past. She half expected George Lockwood and Tobias Fell to come and join Damon.

"Did I really drive you to drink?" She asked sitting down next to him. Damon looked at her deeply, sighed, and emptied his next glass. She ordered one for herself and Damon looked surprised.

"What?" She said in defense. "It's not 1862 anymore! And don't you remember? Together or -"

"Not at all." He finished. He seemed to have calmed down a little Sam realized, relieved. She wanted to talk to him, get to know him again. After all, he wasn't the only one that had changed.

"Our parents would kill us right now." Sam laughed and even Damon's bitter facial expression got a little less bitter.

"We have a daughter?" Damon asked quietly, features still frozen in stunned disbelief. Sam could see how hard it was for him to ask this question, so she decided to tell him a little about her.

"Yes, Mary Lily Gilbert." Damon had put on his poker face, no reaction whatsoever to the fact that their daughter's middle name was his mother's name. "She was born on the second of February in 1863 and I turned her on the 25th of July 1880." Damon's pupils widened for a brief moment. It was the only reaction she got, but it was enough for her. "The date is familiar to you, isn't it? It should be-"

"On the 25th of July 1861 I asked for your hand in marriage."

"And I said yes." They both looked at each other, lost in the other's eyes. Sam could almost feel the old butterflies in her stomach returning.

"And then you left." Damon said and ruined the moment, the butterflies dying with his comment. Sam sighed deeply.

"And then I left."

"What are you doing here, Sammy?" He looked so vulnerable and hurt that it broke her heart, but she couldn't help the smile forming on her face by hearing that long unspoken name on his lips. The name she had thought she would never hear again. "Mary wanted to know more about you, honey." Damon smiled. For the first time in 145 years she saw him smile. She wanted to throw herself in his arms, but he had made pretty clear earlier in his house that this would never happen again. She could see it in his eyes right now. The eyes she could read so well in in the past were now closed off as if he built a wall to protect himself from her. Looking into his eyes right now, there was no denying the butterflies anymore. It felt like it always had.

"To old times." Damon rose his glass and clicked it with hers.

She had stopped counting her glasses a while ago. She wasn't drunk yet, but it wouldn't take much anymore. She hadn't been drunk in 20 years. She felt the warm pressure of Damon's hand on her thigh, his fingers drawing soothing patterns on the fabric of her jeans, and she froze. She didn't dare move a muscle lest she chase away the pleasure of that familiar touch. When he suddenly bent down to her and put his head in the crook of her neck, she forgot to breathe and closed her eyes. It had been so long. He began to nibble on her neck and she suppressed a moan, painfully aware that they weren't alone. Damon chuckled lowly and kissed his way up to her ear.

"Get out of my life!" he hissed, and the intensity of his whispering sent a shiver down her spine. "I don't want you in it anymore. If Mary really wants to know me, she can do that, but I am done with you!" He sat upright again, pretending nothing had happened. Sam breathed again. She could only stare at him in disbelief. She suppressed the anger, desperation and humiliation she felt. She knew she deserved it, but Damon had to forgive her sometime, right? In the meantime, she would have to get used to this side of him, the side that deliberately wanted to hurt her. She would have to get used to the fact that she couldn't trust him. She would have to learn to face him every day, knowing she was forbidden to touch him.

For years her only wish was to see him again, but that's not how she imagined it!

She smiled evilly. Two could play this game.

Sam put her hands on his shoulders and stroked his face softly. She leaned forward, almost brushing her lips with his, and to her satisfaction she noticed his breath catch. So, he wasn't as unaffected as he pretended to be. She smiled smugly.

"I am supposed to leave you alone?" She whispered. "Doesn't sound convincing to me." She leaned back and took a sip from her drink. "And just to be clear, if you hurt Mary in any way, you won't know what hit you." He looked taken aback a little, but then smiled.

"Not bad, honey, not bad, but not good either. You have a lot to learn." Sam scoffed and turned around to leave. She felt his eyes on her behind and was suddenly very aware that he had never seen her in pants, least of all skinny jeans. She smiled to herself, but didn't look back at him.

* * *

She didn't know how she ended up here, she couldn't remember walking here deliberately. She was strolling around and suddenly found herself in front of an old tree. Old habits apparently died hard. It was their old hiding spot. She smiled. It looked almost the same. A bench was installed in front of the tree and a plaque advertising this spot. She went over and read it.

_200-year-old oak tree_

_Secret meeting place of Mystic Falls' very own Romeo and Juliet_

So Mystic Falls hadn't erased her out of its history entirely. She traced the D and S absentmindedly. She couldn't believe it was still here after all these years.

 

_"Damon what are you doing?" She laughed, sitting down on the blanket and watching the horses graze not far from them._

_"You'll see." He smiled, pulling a small knife from his pocket. He stepped in front of the tree and scratched two letters into the trunk. She stood up to see better._

_D+S_

_She beamed and kissed Damon passionately._

_"I love you, Sammy." He whispered._

_"I love you, too." She kissed him again. "But what if someone sees it? It wouldn't be our secret anymore." He shrugged._

_"No one ever comes here. This is our place."_

_"But it will grow out." she remarked._

_"Not if I re-scratch it every week."_

"I knew you would come here." Damon suddenly said from behind her.

"Why are you following me?" He stood beside her now.

"We weren't done talking yet, were we?"

"How is that still here?" She whispered still tracing the two letters.

"After you left, Tobias Fell found it and wrote an article about it for the newspaper. Over the years, it became kind of a legend around here. High School students mostly use it for a make out spot." Sam remembered reading the article. Tobias hadn't mentioned them by name, but everyone in Mystic Falls must have known it was about them. She also remembered that the article appeared almost a year after her disappearance. Damon must have continued to scratch the letters in every week, even after she left him behind. She gulped.

"Nice to know the place hasn't lost its initial purpose." She smiled. He took her hand. She looked down at their joined hands.

"Stefan warned me about you. He thinks you'd be playing with me."

"I wouldn't dare." He sounded so sincere. She wanted to believe him so badly. He stepped closer to her until her back hit the trunk.

"I am having some flashbacks." Sam laughed.

"A lot of things changed." Damon remarked.  
"I can see that. The bench is a nice touch."   
"I was thinking more of how much easier this is without your giant dress."

"You never seemed to have a problem with it." His eyes sparkled mischievously.

"I got rid of it pretty quickly, didn't I?" She laughed and Damon finally kissed her, but she softly pushed him away.

"Please stop if you don't mean it." Sam was breathing heavily. "I don't think I can survive losing you again." She said honestly. Damon didn't step back. He looked so vulnerable in this moment. He stroked her cheek.

"I know." He whispered and kissed her again.

"You said you didn't want me in your life." She reminded him again.

"I thought you died." He almost choked on his words and she kissed him again, this time not stopping for any more questions.

* * *

"This is definitely not what I expected when I ran after you." She admitted, wriggling into her jeans. The sun was already setting.

"It wouldn't be the first time." He smirked, getting dressed himself.

"Well yes, but we are not 16 anymore and don't have to hide from our parents! We can't do this here anymore!"

"Who would have thought you could get even more boring?" That hurt. She looked at Damon closely. The Damon that had kissed her earlier was gone; the vulnerability had left his face. He seemed tense again and closed off.

Someone coughed behind her. Sam was still only in her bra. Stefan stood a few yards away, crossing his arms and looking judgmental. She fished for her shirt.

"I was wondering where you guys went."

"Your brother and I had some catching up to do." Sam blushed.  
"I can see that."

"But we're done now. She's all yours." Damon didn't look twice at her and just left. Sam turned to Stefan sadly.

"Don't look at me like that! I know it was a mistake! He obviously changed, I get it!" Stefan sighed.

"Are you okay?" Sam gulped again. She could feel tears burning in her eyes and a lump in her throat.

"I think so. It's weird seeing him acting so hostile towards me." She finished getting dressed. "I just don't know how to act around him!" She yelled angrily. "I know when he's lying, and he didn't lie to me when he said he wouldn't dare play with me! But he did!"  
"I am not sure Damon knows what he wants." Stefan said soothingly.

"Obviously." She grunted. She sighed deeply. "Is Mary still at your place?"  
"No, she left. She wanted to get a head start on moving."

"Well, at least she is doing something useful." Sam sighed.

"You could always move in with us." Stefan suggested. Sam laughed.   
"I don't think that would end well! We're fine. We are quite capable of living on our own, but it's sweet of you to ask." She kissed him on the cheek and looked back at the tree. "I don't think I've ever stopped loving him." Stefan didn't say anything and Sam was grateful. "I still love him, but I guess I have to learn to stop for Mary's sake." Stefan opened his mouth, but Sam put her hand in front of his mouth. "Let's change the topic! Tell me about Elena."

* * *

Mary had ditched Stefan as soon as her mother left. She had thought about following her parents, but after what happened in the kitchen earlier, she wasn't sure she wanted to see what was going on. Instead she decided to go to their new house and start decorating. Well, finish unpacking boxes anyway. Most of the hard work the hired movers had already done for them. They had it down to routine.

She carried the boxes inside. She started with a box full of books. Mostly medical research they had acquired over the years, a few first editions of books that were nowadays considered classics that would earn them a fortune if they ever needed the money. Of course they wouldn't.

The whole process was mechanic. She forgot how often she arranged them over the years. First the non-fictional books, led by all medical related books, followed by topics either one of them were interested in over the years. There was a time for example when Mary had tried herself as lawyer, it didn't last long though, but the books remained. She bent down, looked at the spine of the book and put it at the appropriate place, knowing exactly where each book belonged.

She had almost finished the entire bookshelf, when someone knocked on the door.

"It's open." Mary called.

"It's dangerous just inviting strangers inside." Damon said leaning against the door frame.   
"Oh it's you." Mary put her books down. "I am pretty sure I could take you."

"I wouldn't bet on it." Mary went over to him, crossing her hands, and staring him down.

"What do you want? My mom isn't here."  
"I know."

"So why are you here?"

"You are my daughter." He pointed out. Mary sighed.

"It seems so. Don't you want to come in?" Mary asked sitting down, patting the space next to her. She hadn't had the best first impression of him, but she had waited so long to meet him, she couldn't just ignore him. She wasn't her mother; she never was good in pretending not to be curious. She didn't expect any warm and fuzzy father-daughter relationship anytime soon and it would take a while for her to trust him, if she ever could. But talking to him couldn't hurt, could it?

Damon stepped inside and locked around.

"Nice."

"A lot more modern than your place." Mary teased. Damon just smiled.

"Your mother told me you wanted to meet me."

"That was before I met you and saw how you treated Mom." He ignored her dig.

"So what's your reason of being back in Mystic Falls, it couldn't be to meet me, you didn't know I was still alive, did you?"  
"No idea." Mary clarified. "Believe me, if I had, I would have come way earlier."

"So why the sudden return to Mystic Falls?" Mary sighed.   
"I finally convinced Mom to come back here to get over whatever happened here! Why are you back here? Mom always talks about the vampire hunters in this town and how dangerous it is."

"Did she now?" He seemed interested.

"Did it have anything to do with Katerina Petrova?" Mary gritted. Damon looked up surprised.

"How do you know Katherine?"

"I know of her." Mary shrugged trying to keep the disdain out of her voice. "And Stefan mentioned her earlier, so I assumed."

"But how do you know her real name? She never even told me. I only saw it because I snooped around in her room."

"You snoop?" Mary laughed.

"Don't avoid the question!"

"I know someone who used to know her." She answered vaguely.

"Your boyfriend?" Damon asked.

"I don't have a boyfriend." Mary answered a little too quickly. Damon smirked.   
"Sure you don't." Damon smirked knowingly. Mary squinted confused.

"I don't." She repeated.

"Don't lie to your father. Before I knew who you were, I followed you and overheard your phone call."  
"You were stalking me?!" Mary screeched.

"I didn't know you!"  
"You still don't know me." She corrected him.

"So tell me something about yourself." He leaned back on the couch.

"Like what?"

"Like why are you hiding the fact that you have a boyfriend? Why is Sam not allowed to know about him?"

"You know what? You can help me unpack." She stood up and picked a random box. It was kitchen utensils. She picked out plates and put in a cupboard. Damon smiled.

"Wow. And here I thought your mother was the world's worst liar." Mary stopped insulted.   
"For your information, I am a great liar." Damon laughed and tried to open the first box he saw.

"Oh, not that one!" Mary said taking the box from him.

"Why not?"

"It's Mom's and it's personal."

"Now I'm intrigued." He fiddled with the box.

"It's nothing, just leave this box." Mary went over to him, but he wouldn't hand it over.

"I can't open it." He sounded surprised.  
"You're not supposed to open it."

"Is it spelled?" Damon asked in disbelief.

"Yes. And no, I don't know how to open it!" Mary rolled her eyes exasperated.

"Aren't you curious?"  
"No, I respect her privacy as she does mine."  
"So you are curious but you won't do anything about it, because you don't want her to start questioning you when you sneak off to meet your boyfriend."  
"I. Don't. Have. A. Boyfriend!" She gritted.

"Well, I don't respect your mother's privacy, and I know who taught her the sealing spell. It's not actually a spell. It's herbs, and I also know how to open it."   
"You really shouldn't!"

"Try to stop me." Mary considered it, but she really was curious. She had a chance to see her mother's secret without actually being at fault. She still felt guilty though.

She got her phone and called her mother. She could at least warn her. "Hi mom."

"Hi sweetie, everything alright?"

"Yes, I am at our new place and my father showed up and he claims he can open your secret box, I thought I should tell you. Should we be worried or is he bluffing?"

"I am on my way."  
"So he actually knows how to open it?" Mary gasped.  
"There are very few things I learned as a human that he doesn't know about. I will be there shortly. Just try to stop him."

"What is in that box?" Mary asked. Now, she really was curious.

"Nothing special, just memories. See you soon. Love you." Sam ended the call. Mary went back to Damon who had opened the kitchen cupboards.

"What are you doing?" Mary asked annoyed, taking the box out of his hands.

"Where are your herbs?"

"We literally just moved in. We haven't exactly had time to grow herbs, sorry." Mary answered sarcastically.

"Your mother always has herbs." It was true, but Mary wasn't about to say that. They were probably still in another box.

"I'm here." Sam opened the door, running inside.

"You came just in time." Mary greeted her mom.

"Damon, what are you doing here?" Sam sounded angry.   
"Mary and I were just chatting." Damon shrugged, looking innocent.   
"You have to leave." Sam gritted.  
"What happened between you two?" Mary looked between her parents. They seemed tense and Sam especially was brooding underneath, Mary could tell.

"Nothing." Sam grunted. "Leave!" Sam ordered Damon, but he didn't move. "Damon, you made it very clear that you don't care about me, so leave! This is our place and I can't forbid Mary to see you, but it's not going to be here. We are done! Now leave my house."  
"Our house." Mary chimed in.

"What are you hiding, Sammy?" Damon asked unimpressed.  
"Don't Sammy me!" Sam screamed.

"Fine, what are you hiding Ms. Gilbert?" Damon teased. Sam's heart jumped in her chest, pulse racing at the flirtatious spark in his eye. She could feel the blush threatening to stain her cheeks, but she resisted the feeling. She refused to let him get to her.

"I am not hiding anything!"

"You were pining for me, weren't you?" Damon smiled.

"I thought you were dead. I don't pine for the dead. I am glad I didn't. I don't like the man you've become! So just leave!" Damon held up his hands and backed off.

"Fine, I guess I'll see you around."  
Sam scoffed. "I wouldn't bet on it"

Sam didn't watch him close the door, she had tears in her eyes.

"Mom, what did he do?" Mary had a pretty good guess, her mom seemed crushed.

"Nothing. I'll be alright. Damon Salvatore is one mistake I won't make again." Sam promised and headed up the stairs to go to bed. Mary looked around. She hadn't accomplished much today. Oh, well, there was always tomorrow. She turned the light off and went upstairs herself, realizing that she couldn't find her mother's box anywhere.


	7. Chapter 6

"Where is it, Damon?!" Sam stormed the Salvatore mansion, slamming the door behind her. She couldn't see Damon, but she could hear his voice loud and clear.

"Sam, what are you doing here?" Stefan came down the stairs. "Did something happen?" He eyed her concerned.

"Yes something did happen! I am supposed to be at the hospital right now starting my first day, but instead I am here, looking for your brother who stole from me! So where is he?" The floorboards fairly shook with the force of her long strides as she searched wildly for the source of his voice.

"Outside." Stefan pointed through the glass door that led to the backyard. He found it better not to question Sam when she was in a mood. Sam furrowed her brows, nodded, and strode to the door, wrenching it open with such force that Stefan was surprised it didn't shatter.

"Damon!" She screamed as soon as she recognized his back. He spun around, eyes wide in feigned surprise at the tornado of blonde wrath stalking toward him. She scoffed loudly to see it. Damon stepped to the side, revealing a second person. Sam tried to calm herself down; Damon wasn't worth risking revealing anything.

"Sam what are you doing here?" Damon asked with a superficial smile.

"You know what I am doing here!" Sam glared at him.

"Damon, would you mind introducing us?" The woman who was obviously the sheriff according to her uniform smiled at Sam.

"I'm sorry, Liz," he answered, sweetly. "Meet Samantha Gilbert, she just moved back to town with her sister, we grew up together. This is Elizabeth Forbes, the sheriff of our town." Sam moved her head from Damon to the sheriff, switching from furious to sweet and welcoming in a second. Whatever game Damon was playing she could play it too.

"Nice to meet you. I am actually going to work at the local hospital. Today is my first day."

"Yeah, that's right! I heard we are getting a new doctor! I didn't know it would be a Gilbert though."

"I know. We're a rare breed. I met Elena already. Nice girl." Sam fake laughed, she could see Damon roll his eyes out of the corner of her eyes. Maybe she was laying it on too thick, but the sheriff didn't know that.

"She really is. I really didn't know there were more Gilberts from this town alive." She looked at Sam suspiciously.  
"As far as I know there are 4 left, Elena and John Gilbert, and Mary and myself. I actually researched my family once. There was a founder of this town named Jonathan Gilbert who had two daughters, Samantha and Lucia, Elena and John must be descendants from Lucia, because Mary and I seem to be the only ones left from Samantha's side. I was actually named after her. Which is funny because, according to my research, the original Samantha was shunned for having a baby out of wedlock." She didn't let her smile waver for even a second.

"Interesting. Yes, I think I've read something about that. Welcome to Mystic Falls, but I really have to go now." Liz left and Sam turned to Damon, mask finally falling from her face and making room for her anger.

"My box! Now!" She hissed.

"You can't just burst into here! She is on the council!"

"The founder's council?" Sam asked, concern momentarily displacing her anger. "They really still exist? Are they still believers?"

"Yes, of course they still exist! It's Mystic Falls!" He yelled angrily. She shook her head. This was so not important right now.

"If you know she is on the council, what are you doing with her?!" Sam shouted back. Damon smiled. "I give the founder council their vervain supply." He said with a mischievous glint in his eyes, walking back to the house.

"YOU WHAT?!" Sam screamed out of her mind. "Are you insane? They are going to kill you!"

"They don't suspect me. And what do you care anyway?" He turned around to her so fast, she almost bumped into him.

"You're right, I don't. Let yourself be killed, what do I care?! Just remember you just admitted that we grew up together, so if they out me, you're going down with me. I'm just here to get my things back."

"Don't you have to go to work?" He deflected. Sam glanced at her watch at the reminder, cursing silently at the time. "I mean you can look for it here of course. But, it's a big house. A house you don't know, and you wouldn't want to be late on your first day." He smiled smugly.

"Fine." Sam relented. "I assume you didn't have all the ingredients you needed at home and searched for them during the night. I don't smell anything, so you haven't started yet. I am done in 6 hours, and you need at least that long. I will be back!" She warned through gritted teeth. She didn't feel comfortable, but it was a calculated risk.

"I'll be expecting you!" He smiled, and waved her goodbye. She went back to her car, making sure once again that she didn't smell anything suspicious. When she was sure the coast was clear, she drove to the hospital for her first day as trauma surgeon.

* * *

As soon as her shift was done, Sam raced back to the Salvatore mansion. Damon was already waiting for her outside.

"Welcome back. Did you have a nice day, honey?" Damon greeted her smiling.

"Why are you so cheerful?" Sam asked suspiciously. Damon handed her a piece of paper. She turned it around and found a drawing on it she knew well. All the color drained from Sam's face as she stared down at the image. On it was her and Damon by their tree, him on one knee, she looking down at him with love and admiration. The day of their engagement. She had drawn it the same day it had happened, and never had she had so much fun drawing. She had shown it to him and he had loved it. They were so in love, so blissfully happy. If only the Sam in the drawing could see them now, she would hardly believe the change. The way Damon looked at her now, so smug and self-righteous, her Damon would have never looked at her that way. Her Damon would have never violated her privacy like that. Her Damon would have known he crossed a line. Once again, Sam had to realize that she didn't know the man in front of her at all. Not anymore. She gulped. "You opened it!"

"I told you I would."

"Why are you so obsessed with this? So I kept my drawings! You know they are like my diary! I couldn't just throw them away!"

"Nice try. I knew all of your paintings, there are some new ones. You were pining for me!"

"Fine, I admit I missed you! Clearly I was misled, because in my mind you were still the boy I fell in love with and nothing could be farther from the truth, could it?" Sam spat. Damon didn't so much as blink. "I hope you're happy now! You snooped into my personal belongings and found my diary! What else do you want? "

"Are you uncomfortable?"

"Yes! What do you think?!" She hissed.

"Then yes, I am happy." He grinned at her and opened the door for her. She could only glare. "After you." She just scoffed, but went inside and stopped.

"Mary? What are you doing here?" Sam looked at her daughter in shock. Mary was sitting on the ground, Elena and Stefan next to her with hundreds of pictures Sam had drawn over the years around them.

"Damon picked me up after school. He said you would be joining us later for some family bonding. I didn't know you could draw! How was your first day?" Mary chatted happily.

"And you're calling me the naive one!" Sam shook her head. "It didn't seem a bit suspicious to you?"

"Well…" Mary admitted.

"Don't be angry with her, Sam." Damon chimed in. "She didn't want to see it, so she didn't. You did give her a lot to question over the years." Sam turned around to Damon furiously.

"Fine! You want to embarrass me! That's what you're doing right? Embarrassing me? Go ahead! Let's look at our past!" She grabbed a few of the papers and threw them in his face. "I bet I'm not the only one embarrassed by it! How did you open the box anyway?"

"You taught me how to," he reminded her.

"I know, I meant this procedure should have taken at least 6 hours and that considering that you had all the ingredients, somehow I doubt you planted spider flowers in your backyard next to your vervain! Mystic Falls doesn't seem like the place to buy specific flowers at short notice either."

"She's right." Stefan agreed. Suddenly Sam remembered something else and smiled.

"Unless you kept the flower I gave to you for your 20th birthday."

_"Happy birthday, honey." She rolled on top of Damon and kissed him awake._

_"You already congratulated me," he reminded her, but reciprocated the kiss._

_"Get used to it. I am going to congratulate you all day long!" He smiled._

_"That sounds great, but a little unrealistic since you have to disappear from this room, before my father sees you, and then we are going to have a family dinner, just father, me and Stefan," Damon grunted and Sam grinned brightly._

_"I am so proud of Stefan for keeping it a secret!"_

_"Keeping what secret?" He sat up._

_"Your birthday party."_

_"My what?!"_

_"I organized you a birthday party," Sam shrugged happily as if it weren't a big deal. "The whole town is coming. It would be weird for me not to attend."_

_"My father would never have fallen for that. Today is the day my father is volunteering me to join the army." Sam stiffened, she didn't like to talk about this._

_"That's why I bribed my sister to talk to Melinda Forbes to convince her to talk to Giuseppe and remind him that you are a Salvatore and therefore part of the founding families and you deserve a 20th birthday party everyone in Mystic Falls can attend." Damon laughed._

_"Who would have thought the annoying gossip is good for something after all. So what did you bribe your sister with?"_

_"My spot on the founder's council."_

_"Something you are going to miss dearly," Damon smirked._

_"Exactly," Sam laughed and kissed him again. "I have something else for you."_

_"Another present?"_

_"Yes, today I am spoiling you." She wanted to get up and get it, but Damon held her tight and kissed her back. "Damon," She chided laughingly._

_"It's my birthday," he whined. Sam rolled her eyes and wiggled herself out of his grip. She gave him the flower. "A spider flower?" he asked confused. Sam was surprised._

_"Wow, you know your flowers!"_

_"I am spending too much time with you," she smiled._

_"Emily gave it to me, it's beautiful, isn't it?" Damon nodded, still confused._   
_"Yes, but I don't understand?"_   
_"Take it as a symbol."_   
_"I am sorry, I am not that good, I can't name them and their symbolism."_

_Sam laughed, "Don't worry, I didn't either, Emily didn't tell me. I just liked the flower and looked it up. It means elope with me."_

_Damon sat up straight. "Sam, our parents will kill us! Look how they reacted to our engagement!" he said, trying to sound reasonable, but not able to hide his excitement._

_"Our parents won't ever allow it! Your father wants you to join the army for a war you don't believe in! I just want to be your wife if you decide to leave. You know, I don't want you to leave," Sam admitted and Damon looked away. "But I will always love you, no matter what you choose to do. But if you decide to go for your father's sake, I want to be married to you."_

_"You are insane and I love you," Damon smiled and kissed her passionately._

_"When you go, you can take the flower with you and always remember how much I love you."_

"Rather forgot about it until this morning." Sam knew he was lying. He had kept it. He had missed her too.

"If you just want to embarrass each other, I have a story for you, Mom," Mary smiled evilly. "I had my first day at the local High School today and the Mystic Falls Welcome Committee greeted me." Elena looked down embarrassed. Sam didn't understand. "The Committee is led by Elena, Bonnie Bennett and Caroline Forbes," Mary explained further. "Caroline seemed especially eager. She told me all about the Miss Mystic Pageant. By the way, I am participating. And so is her boyfriend...Damon Salvatore."

"Do we really want to go there, Mary?" Damon asked his eyes sparkling with mischief. Mary gritted under her breath, but kept quiet.

"You're dating a Forbes?" Sam turned to Damon in disgust, not understanding what Damon's comment was hinting at, but then realizing something else. "She's the Sheriff's daughter, isn't she? Are you insane or just suicidal?!"

"Do I detect jealousy?"

"No, you detect worry that you will kill Mary and me in the process of whatever your little scheme is!"

"Don't worry the founder's council loves me."

Sam scoffed. "How ironic."

"Caroline is definitely unaware that vampires exist," Mary tried to diffuse her parents fight. "So, she isn't a danger."

"I would hope not, seeing as I'm compelling her." Damon's cold tone sent a shiver down Sam's spine. Even Mary was disgusted. "What?" Damon asked defensively. "I'm going to break it off with her anyway. Even with compulsion, that girl is beyond irritating." He rolled his eyes.

"You are unbelievable!" Sam spat.

"No, what's unbelievable is that you kept a picture of me hiding under a table?" Stefan said holding up a picture of a 10-year-old Stefan in pajamas hiding under the kitchen table, successfully diffusing the tension. Sam laughed.

"That's the day your father left for a meeting in Richmond and took your housekeeper with him, because he believed you and Damon would be okay for a day on your own."

Elena took the picture. "So why was Stefan scared?"

"He wasn't." Sam said still laughing. "Damon just told Stefan to hide, so that he could kiss me hello."

"It also was the first time we—" Damon started smiling but then stopped as if remembering that he was talking to Sam and didn't particularly like her at the moment.

"You did what?" Mary asked curiously.

"Played house." Damon answered lamely.

"Okay. And it's awkward again." Mary watched her parents eerily. "You basically drew everything! So where is the picture of your wedding?"

"There was no wedding." Stefan clarified confused.

"There had to be! Mom always told me I wasn't born out of wedlock. That's why I always searched for a Gilbert! I didn't think you would go back to your maiden name!"

Sam sighed, tortured. "We were married, but only for God. We couldn't have anyone knowing we were married; we would have been thrown out."

_"You have to marry us." Sam and Damon stood before the priest._

_"Of course, what day were you considering?"_

_"Actually, father." Damon smiled. "Right now would be perfect."_

_"Right now?! Children, have patience! Marriage lasts you an eternity."_

_"We need to do it today," Sam begged._

_"Why?"_

_"Because our parents hate us, they forbid it. We've been engaged for almost a year now! We don't want to wait anymore!"_

_"Your parents are good people. They worry about your wellbeing." Damon and Sam scoffed._

_"If they really do than a premature wedding isn't a problem is it?" Sam challenged._

_"You'd need witnesses! And if you decide you want your family by your side after all, I can't marry you twice."  
"We don't need witnesses. You don't have to write it down anywhere. As far as everyone can know, we aren't married. We just want to be married before God."_

_The priest eyed them carefully, his glance stopped at Damon._

_"I wouldn't have pegged you for such a religious person! You don't even attend every service."  
"I am not." Damon shrugged. "But it's important to her."_

_"Please, father," Sam begged again. The priest looked pained at the both of them._

_"Fine, as you wish."_

"You were married?!" Stefan exclaimed angrily.

"It didn't really count." Damon said, rolling his eyes.

"Just because it wasn't a legal wedding, doesn't mean it didn't count! And I'm sorry, Stefan, but we just couldn't tell you!"

"That's so messed up," Mary whispered under her breath.

"Well, it's been a long time." Sam sat down on the floor as well and started to collect all the papers again. "This was enough snooping for a day." She threw them back in the box, went over to Damon and snatched the last paper out of his hand, before she left the room. Mary got up to go after her, but Damon stood in front of her not letting her pass.

"Move!" Mary said angrily.

"I think I should be the one going after her." Damon turned around, but Mary didn't even think about it. She grabbed Damon's arm and threw him to the ground.

"The last time you went after her, it didn't end well, so you stay here and I am going."

"Do you even know where she's going?" Damon asked getting up again.

"No, but neither do you and Mystic Falls is not that big. I'll find her."

"But I have a hunch where she'll go."

"You don't know her as well as you think you do!"

"Don't I?"

Mary scoffed, exasperated.

"Fine, you can drive me." She agreed finally.

* * *

"I knew you would come here," Damon suddenly said from behind her. Sam didn't turn around.

"If you think it's going to end like last time, dream on!" Damon chuckled.

"Too bad, but I already figured I had to up my game."

"How did you find me anyway?"

"All this talk about our wedding and how our fathers ruined our lives, it wasn't hard to figure out." Suddenly someone else started laughing and Sam finally turned around, just to see her daughter standing beside Damon.

"Please, he drove to the old church first. I had to take the wheel."

"Yeah well, your daughter thought you'd go back to the hospital, I was the one who found you in the end."

"So what are you looking at anyway?" Mary asked stepping towards her mother. Sam made space for her. They were looking down at an old gravestone. "Jonathan Gilbert," Mary read. "My grandfather?"

"Yes, your other grandfather is over there in the family tomb."

"Fun fact: Your uncle killed both of them." Damon stepped behind them.

"Stefan killed both of your fathers?" Mary asked in disbelief. Sam didn't know this part of the story either, but then again, she couldn't really blame him.

"They deserved it." Damon explained.  
"Giuseppe killed Stefan and Damon, and my father killed dozens of vampires, tried to kill me and erased me out of his life. Not including what both of them did to my and Damon's relationship, hiding my pregnancy, making me leave." Sam explained. She didn't like to agree with Damon, no one deserved to die like that, but if someone did, their fathers would be on that list.

"So why the sudden need to pay your respects?" Damon asked. Sam sighed.

"He was still my father and we had a good relationship until… you know."

"Until I stepped into your life." Damon continued for her bitterly.

"Well, it's true. Sometimes I can't help but think that he just wanted the best for me. Maybe I should have married George Lockwood, but then I wouldn't have Mary." Sam smiled at her daughter.

"Sorry, I still can't believe Stefan murdered his own father, he doesn't seem like the type." Mary looked at her parents for an explanation.

"It was after we first turned, he couldn't handle the bloodlust. And people change, look at your mother, she used to be such a faithful person, going to church every Sunday, and now she is standing at her father's grave defending his killer."

Sam gritted her teeth. "Times change! And for your information you can live a Christian life without going to church! And don't forget that you changed too! You used to despise what the founder's council did! And as I understand it now, you're their golden boy!"

"Well, you got everything you wanted, didn't you? You became a doctor," Damon rolled his eyes.

"I was in a horrible situation and I made the best out of it!" Sam defended herself.

"Keep telling yourself that."

"Stop fighting!" Mary yelled. "That's all over 100 years ago! How about you tell me more about your illegal wedding."

"There isn't anything else to tell. It happened, that's it."

"I don't even get the date my parents married?" Mary pouted. Sam and Damon looked each other for a long time, before Sam turned around and said: "We should head back."

* * *

Sam was supposed to help out in the emergency room, which meant, in an area such as Mystic Falls, that she had a lot of free time. She sat behind the reception's desk looking through the empty room.

The woman she had seen around the hospital before approached her and sat down next to her. "Hey, seems like we will be working together today," she greeted with a friendly smile. "You're the new one right? I'm Meredith Fell."

"Nice to meet you, I am Samantha Gilbert." They shook hands and started on some paperwork.

"I think I saw you yesterday with Damon Salvatore and some girl?" Meredith looked up bored. Sam pushed the paper away as well and leaned back.

"That must have been my sister and yes that was Damon, how do you know him?"

"We work together on the founder's council." Sam closed her eyes for a second. Nothing had changed apparently.

"Oh right, a Fell, I didn't make the connection. So a big believer in vampires?" She tried to be as casual as possible about it. Working with a council member could lead to many problems.

"You can't live in Mystic Falls and not be," Meredith winked at her and Sam laughed, relieved. She didn't seem to be one of those extremists. "So how do you know Damon?" she repeated Sam's earlier question.

"We used to date." Being honest was always the best solution to these kinds of situations and Sam actually liked Meredith. She seemed nice. "But a very long time ago."

"So what brings you to Mystic Falls?"

"My sister and I needed a change of scenery. We've done a bit of ancestral research and learned that our family originated from this town, and we thought why not check it out?"

"Regretting that decision already? Mystic Falls doesn't get any more interesting than some founders parties." Sam laughed. She knew these founder's parties too well. Meredith was right, they were boring. But Sam didn't mind boring anymore. Boring was safe.

"Meeting Damon again was kind of a surprise. I didn't expect to see him ever again. I always thought he… moved to the other side of the country," she admitted. Other than that, Mystic Falls had almost been pleasant.

"Oh wow, I heard he is dating the sheriff's daughter these days," she informed Sam, who nodded.

"Yeah, that's what I heard too." Sam's phone rang at that moment. Meredith looked over and smiled.

"Speak of the devil." Sam rolled her eyes and answered it.

"Damon?"

"Hello, Sammy." His voice was cold and calculated.

"What do you want?" Sam asked, confused. Suddenly Meredith jumped and went to the doors, awaiting the ambulance that just arrived. A girl with long blonde hair was rolled inside the emergency room on a stretcher by two paramedics.

"We found her outside the forest, must have been an animal attack." One of them said. Sam only had to look once to know that this was not a wound caused by an animal; at least not one like the paramedic seemed to suggest. The whole room seemed to be cooler suddenly. This was a vampire bite and a nasty one at that. This was not done to simply feed, this was deliberately done to send a message and inflict the most amount of pain. Who knew how much time the poor girl had spent in the forest before people found her? The wound was probably infected, she would most likely die.

"It's Caroline Forbes," Meredith informed her, face white. She must have come to the same conclusion. Sam felt like throwing up. So that was Caroline Forbes. Damon's girl. Sam could count one and one together.

"What did you do?!" Sam gripped the phone tighter, almost crushing it. She could barely form the words. She didn't know how to feel. Furious? Shocked? Sad? Betrayed? She felt it all.

"So my present arrived." Damon said cheerfully. "Happy anniversary, honey."

**A/N Please leave a review and tell me what you thought!**


End file.
